Acupuncture during Labor & Delivery
Acupuncture can be used to induce labor naturally through a gentler means than Traditional Western labor-inducing treatments and medications. Acupuncture works by stimulating the mother’s body to ready itself for labor. Needling will encourage the body to naturally release prostaglandins to soften and ripen the cervix for labor, and oxytocin to trigger contractions. Because the body produces its own hormones, and the process is natural, the mother and child will experience a gradual, less-traumatic onset of labor. Acupuncture can even be used to help control pain, calm the mind and reduce stress during delivery. In our clinic we usually achieve success inducing labor within one to five sessions.
Acupuncture can offer a safe, effective and natural solution to help the process of you and your baby getting to meet each other for the first time!
In addition to acupuncture acupressure can be used as a adjunct to the acupuncture. Women who received Acupressure on a small number of points during their labor have reported benefits such as reduction in pain, an improved sense of calmness and a high level of satisfaction with the birth experience. Acupressure is a form of touch therapy that utilizes the principles of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. In acupressure, the same points on the body are used as in acupuncture, but are stimulated with finger pressure instead of with the insertion of needles. We coach and teach our patients and their partners before delivery.