: 07967 10 50 85Acupuncture during pregnancy
Acupuncture is a powerful, drug-free therapy ideally suited to pregnancy. It has a high degree of patient satisfaction, and an increasing body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of acupuncture for a range of common obstetric complaints. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat women whilst pregnant, with the earliest major obstetric texts coming from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
Many women find that they have ailments during pregnancy that they did not have before or that ailments/conditions they already have are made worse or they cannot (or do not) want to take the medications that they usually would. These ailments are often described as ‘minor’ but can be very distressing or perhaps painful for the woman and can stop the woman enjoying her pregnancy. Acupuncture offers a safe and natural way to tackle common pregnancy aliments.
Rachel has completed specialist training in obstetric acupuncture (pregnancy acupuncture), the content of which is approved by the Royal College of Midwives.
Some examples of conditions that pregnant women have used acupuncture for:
- Pregnancy sickness
- Back and pelvic pain
- Anxiety and depression
- Constipation
- Sinusitis
Treatments can also be performed in preparation for labour:
- Pre-birth acupuncture (from 36/37 weeks to prepare the body for labour)
- Positioning of the foetus (turning a breech baby)
- Natural induction of labour (only when past due date)
I suffered from "morning sickness" from about my fourth week of pregnancy – I felt constantly nauseous and was being sick up to three times a day. At about ten or eleven weeks, as the sickness didn't seem to be going away on its own, I started consulting Rachel. Right from the very first appointment I couldn't believe the difference that acupuncture made. I went into the first treatment feeling sick and prepared with sweets and salty food in case I felt like being sick during the appointment. As I lay on the treatment couch the nausea just disappeared and I wasn't sick at all – and didn't even feelsick - for the next 36 hours. After three or four sessions of acupuncture with Rachel the sickness had all but disappeared. The acupuncture treatment made it so much easier to cope with everyday life, work and looking after an active toddler alongside my pregnancy. If I fell pregnant again and suffered from morning sickness I would definitely seek acupuncture earlier on in the pregnancy, as I felt it made such a positive difference for me this time.
Morning Sickness
