Acupuncture is an amazing tool for helping women prepare for their birthing journey and post partum time. Birthing preparation treatments ideally start at 36 weeks and continue weekly until the birth.  The focus is on ripening the cervix and preparing the body for the labour, as well as addressing any concerns that might be creating physical, emotional or mental stress.  A women's biology is set up so that she doesn't labour when she is scared, she must be in a comfortable place with a positive mind in order to give birth.  This is why acupuncture can be an amazing tool for women to help bring more relaxation in their body-mind-spirit and in this way start to open up at all levels for the journey ahead. 

 

At the end of pregnancy the cervix normally becomes soft (ripe) and begins to open (dilate) and thin (efface), preparing for the birth.  Baby also starts to move further into the pelvis and into position.  The better the baby's position and the more effaced the cervix the faster and easier the labour tends to be.  A ripe cervix facilitates a better birth, reduces the need for pain medication and lowers the risk of needing a caesarean section.

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A clinical study in New Zealand (Betts& Lennox, 2006) showed that giving women pre-birth acupuncture resulted in:

• 35% reduction in medical inductions (43% reduction in women having their first baby)

• 31% reduction in the epidurals

• 32% reduction in emergency caesarean delivery

• 9 % increase in normal vaginal births

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Depending on each women's needs, I use a combination of therapeutic modalities like: acupuncture, Tui Na or Chinese therapeutic massage, moxibustion or Moxa, cupping, visualizations, meditations, ceremony & rituals.  

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