Acupuncture etc to prevent preterm labour?

[Liz]

I'm starting to like the idea of acupuncture. A friend is using it for TTC, and I've read a lot about using acupuncture to induce labour etc. But can it be useful in avoiding preterm labour?

Reason I ask is I'm in negotiations with DH to try for #3 LOL.. so if I'm successful, my main concern will be going into labour early again. DS was 3 weeks early, which was ok.. still considered term.. but DD was 6 weeks early. Naturally, it floats around in my head that the next one could go even earlier, altho I do know that each pg is different etc etc. It's still a thought that enters my head tho! My mum's pregnancies all got longer (miscarriages, late loss, prem, and on time) .. and I feel like mine are getting shorter!

My theory is that when my baby's engage, or even bump their head on my cervix, my body takes that as 'i want out' coz neither of my babies were noted as engaged any time before labour. In a way I'm glad that DD came early coz she was a monster (or at least would have been had she gone full term - she was 3.5kg at 34 weeks).

Anyway, that's a bit sidetracked. So yeah, can accupuncture or other therapies help to prevent preterm labour?

[BellyBelly]

Yup sure can, they even have acupuncture to prevent threatened miscarriage...

[Liz]

ooh. yay. But is it something you do to treat preterm labour if its already threatening? or is it an ongoing thing you can do from the start to prevent it?

[BellyBelly]

I have emailed this to our TCM's because I forget how it works and I assume it would be the same for pre term labour, because they use points to 'hold' the energy in the uterus (?!) - something like that... I'll get the boys in to come and explain lol before I sound like a dufus!

[Liz]

Excellent, thanks Kelly

[Chris Tang]

HI there ladies!

Just thought i would put my 2 cents of expertise in this.
In regards to threatened miscarraige, it could be due to different factors:
(1) Qi and Blood deficiency
(2) Kidney Qi deficiency, not holding
(3)Heat in the blood
(4) disharmony of the Penetrating (Chong) & Conception (Ren) vessels
(5) Stagnation of Liver Qi
and so on...

In the case of pre term labour, it is pretty much the same TCM diagnosis. The constitution of the person is weak and deficient and cannot hold the baby to full term. This is why in TCM, the focus of TTC couples is to prepare the soon-to-be parents to be in the optimum state and balance to conceive. i.e if QI and Blood is deficient, then replenishing them; if Kidney Yin/ Yang is deficient, then nourishing Yin/ Invigorating Yang etc.
Acupuncture and herbal medicine can both be used at any stage of the pregnancy (preconception and postconception) to assist in bringing the pregnancy into full term with mothers who have had a repeated history of premature births.
Hope that helps a bit Liz! Feel free to fire away on questions

Now my question for u is are u TTC? How many kids do you have and how far apart are they?