Preparation for birth with acupuncture
Pregnancy is a sensitive phase for mother and child. Therefore, many pregnant women welcome the possibilities of alternative and complementary healing methods when it comes to treating ailments, for example. A very popular complementary healing method is acupuncture. It finds various applications in gynecology and obstetrics.
For example, specially trained and experienced experts use the needles in the early stages of pregnancy to treat back pain, anxiety or depression. Towards the end of pregnancy, birth-preparatory acupuncture can help.
- alleviate fear of childbirth,
- Induce abortive labor,
- reduce labor pain, and/or
- Shorten the birth process.
Fear of childbirth
Many pregnant women are afraid of the pain of childbirth. Very severe anxiety can lead to psychological stress and interfere with natural labor. Pre-birth acupuncture can help pregnant women relax and reduce their anxiety.
Labor pain and birth duration
Once the child is born, the placenta still has to be expelled (afterbirth). Here acupuncture can support the detachment of the placenta and thus prevent possible complications.
Missing contractions
If the due date has passed, an attempt can be made to induce labor by placing the needles. Therapists also use acupuncture to induce labor in cases of premature rupture of the membranes.
Better recovery
According to the experience of experts, birth preparation through acupuncture has another advantage: physical recovery after birth seems to be improved by the Chinese healing method. However, scientific studies on this are still lacking.
Pre-natal acupuncture: procedure and side effects
Birth-preparatory acupuncture is usually performed once a week for 20 to 30 minutes from the 36th week of pregnancy. Depending on the goal of the treatment, the fine needles are placed on different parts of the skin.
Acupuncture is one of the gentle procedures with almost no side effects. In a few cases, there is skin irritation or small bleeding at the puncture site as well as slight dizziness (in women with poor circulation).
