pregnancy: stick a needle in it

Filed Under Pregnancy and Birthing, Tips & Tricks | January 21, 2010

It’s become pretty common knowledge that acupuncture can assist with fertility and conception – everything from hormone balancing (in both mamas and papas) to stress relief and can aid with the sometimes mysterious and evasive process of conceiving – but acupuncture can also be a pregnant gals best friend.

At a time when your hormones are fluctuating (to put it mildly), acupuncture can help balance things out by relieving first trimester nausea, mood swings, disturbed sleep patterns and hormonally induced headaches. It can also be really helpful in bringing relief to the physical adjustments your body goes through as your back, hips and joints stretch and shift with pregnancy. And for those of us who suffer from things like chronic headaches (whether pregnancy induced or not) and regular aches and find ourselves unable to take much in the way of pharmaceutical aids during the nine month stretch, acupuncture can be a savior.

Acupuncture is safe during pregnancy and is recommended by many prenatal caregivers. It’s a good idea to find an acupuncturist who really understands pregnancy and pre and post-natal treatment. There are many trained practitioners and studios in town, including Acumamas which is staffed by a group of doulas who really know their pre and post natal “stuff”.

When it comes to the last few weeks of your pregnancy a prenatally focused acupuncturist can actually offer a special treatment program geared at preparing you for the labour (or surgery) ahead. They offer everything from treatments to aid with fetal positioning to cervical ripening, which will in theory help make your labour just a little bit easier. Speaking of easier labours when you use a doula with acupuncture training, like the gals at Acumamas, they can actually offer pain support via acupuncture during your labour. And post-natally acupuncture can also be great for sorting out issues with milk production and all the hormonal changes that your post-preggo life will bring.

If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or you’re squeamish about needles be assured that the treatments are indeed very relaxing and the needles so fine that they really don’t feel like anything. In fact, they’re a lot easier to deal with than all those blood tests that being pregnant brings.

Acumamas: acumamas.com