Pre-Labour acupuncture

[Justin Keane]

Hi Everyone,
I just want to post here a little info on using Chinese Med to assist with having a normal healthy birth. In the last few weeks I've noticed that lots of bellys (with gorgeous mums attached!) are coming in very late, 39-40/40, with some stress and asking about acupuncture induction. I would LOVE to be able to avoid any extra mental stress at this stage of preg, god knows the physical stress is enough for you guys to deal with!
So let me outline what I consider to be the best use of preventative med during preg, its short and sweet and consists of monthly treatment in the 1st and 2nd tri's (sometimes weekly is needed at the start for controlling morning sickness), this can continue right up to 36 wks when pre labour acupunctue can start. At this time weekly acupuncture is great and can address stress, both kinds, fluid retention, diabetes, breech/posterior presentation, low energy, pain/discomfort or headaches, and include feedback regarding any concerns, anti-natal class issues, and preparing your mind and body for the transformation of bump to bub!
From 36/40 is best b/c (1) it takes time to prepare, and (2) if bub needs to move there's still room, and (3) it's 100x easier to maintain calm than create it
I'm happy to answer any questions either here or please pm me!

[Tobily]

That's fantastic info Justin, thanks for that

[MamaPan]

I had pre labour acupuncture from wk 36-39 (when ds was born). I highly recommend it, I specifically didnt want any 'induction pts' used just preparing body for birth.

[Aphrael]

I've a place near my GP's office that offer acupuncture that I plan on visiting soon to ask about this very thing, as if I dont go into labour on my own then I'm destined for a caesar to birth this baby, so not what I'm after.

So thanks for this info, I'm at my GP's office today so I might book an appt with the place while I'm there.

Cheers,

Beck

[Sair]

Cool bananas, this is something I was going to look into, if only I had have thought about it when I was suffering from HG, I still have nausea but at least I am off the meds. Is there something for G.O.R.D? I would prefer to stay off the meds for that as they are Category B1 and if I can avoid it I would be happier. I am already having 1 pack of QuickEze a day

I think we have an acupucturist(sp?) in Horsham but not too sure, I know we have a Reflexoligist(sp?)...

[Justin Keane]

Hi Little Miss Sunshine,
yes, acupuncture can definately help with reflux, I did a quick search and found a registered praccy in Horsham. His name is Chris Tully 03 5382 3382, please let me know how you get on!

[Justin Keane]

def rec. reflexology too! lol

[Sair]

Cheers for that info Justin, I will look into that next week for sure. I prefer natural methods as long as they work well!

[Shanti]

LMS - I saw my Acupuncturist last night for my 24week checkup but also mentioned my heartburn/indigestion issues to her and so far, i've had none all day!!!

I love my acupuncture sessions!

[jgal]

Thanks for the info - I had two accupunture sessions last pregnancy at 40w and 41w in an attempt to avoid an artificial induction. Unfortunately since bub was stuck all that happened was my waters broke in the hours after my second session but labour did not start so I had to be artificially induced. When I saw the accupuncturist she said that I needed to see her all through the pregnancy, not just at the end, but didn't explain why. I have had a pretty symptomless pregnancy this time around, with just a bit of sciatica which is kept at bay with weekly chiropractic treatment so I wondered why I should go to the accupuncturist and what I would ask to be treated for, which has put me off going.

Since I am due so close to Christmas, and because of the long painful and eventful labour of my son, the ob has told me she will not let me go more than a few days over this time, therefore there is a higher risk of medical intervention. I was wondering when would be the best time to start geting accupuncture treatment to avoid this, however was unsure due to having an easy pregnancy this time around. I am 31 weeks pregnant now so will now schedule an ppointment in a few weeks time, rather than waiting until my due date.

[BellyBelly]

therefore there is a higher risk of medical intervention.

YOU have a higher risk of medical intervention seeing an Ob in the first place, and on top of that, you have one intervention you have a higher risk of having more! Sorry thats rubbish, your Ob is doing whats easy for them and not you. I'd be running for the nearest exit. A malpositioned baby is not a guaranteed thing to happen again. Its luck of the draw.

Most first births are not as we planned or troublesome, mine was horrid too, stopped, had to have the drip, meconium, epidural etc - but my second birth I rocked up 9cms and pushed him out in less than 20mins.

You'll end up with more intervention this time around if thats what your Ob wants and you're gonna believe you needed it because all those initial interventions lead to unhappy babies then the c/s. I strongly, strongly, strongly suggest you watch 'The Business of Being Born' DVD.

[Justin Keane]

Hi Jgal,
I'm very pleased you've been prompted to get back into the acupuncture, your acupuncturist probably meant that with consistent treatment throughout the pregnancy all of the different energetic processes of late pregnancy and early labour would have progressed more evenly allowing things to unfold more smoothly. Rest assured that consistent treatment from any point in pregnancy is beneficial but for a smooth delivery specifically it's my belief that early 30's is a great time to start if you've not already!
You would ask for pre-labour care. (sorry if that wasn't a question!!)
I'm glad your pregnancy has been so good, as far I know thats often a sign to let it run its whole course, but I'm sure your ob has good reasons! (if she doesn't, and you can ask, then I'm with Kelly..)
Please do watch 'The Business of Being Born' asap, it's great and was one of the other things that really helped us to have a great birth.
Keep in touch jgal and let us know how everything goes!

[jgal]

Thanks for the responses Kelly and Justin. I think because she was willing to let me do most of it my way last time and it all went wrong she is just being a bit more cautious this time. Last time I was two weeks over, waters had been broken for 48hrs so she induced. She did as I asked and started out just breaking the rest of the waters to see if labour would start on it's own, it didn't so then she introduced the synto at the lowest dose. However as nothing progressed she slowly increased the dose until I was having a lot of trouble managing the pain with hypnobirthing techniques alone and I was encouraged (sort of told) to take pain relief or else risk C/S as the synto was at the highest dose by then and bub was most certainly stuck and not moving despite the strength of teh contractions. I guess it helped me to relax a bit because he got past that jammed point soon after and the birth was quite quick and I managed to do most of the early pushing without them realising I was doing so because I didn't want to be told to hold my breath, so slowly "breathed" him down with big deap breaths when they didn't realise I was able to fele the contractions yet due to the epi (I had been told I could push as soon as I could feel the contractions, I just didn't tell anyone, so they didn't realise until they did a check and saw that he was crowning and madly called the ob back... oops). He had the cord tightly wrapped around his neck twice which is probably why he wouldn't decend or labour wouldn't progress properly, and the cord had to be cut while he was still inside, after which I felt no more contractions but had to push him out ASAP so he could breathe. DH asked if we could have an ultrasound closer to the due day to check position and where the cord is but she talked him out of it because she said there is really no need, bub could move between tehn and labour and all it would do is lead to a bit of a panic if things weren't ideal and potentially be an unneccesary c/s if we were worried. I think the other issue about letting the baby go late is that my son was quite big, I am quite small framed and that may have contributed to the malposition and non-progressing labour. (Although I have done research on that topic too and realise that small women can birth some enormous babies without hassle - I think she's just being careful). So given all of that, I think she is more than happy to support a natural birth, however wants to take a few precautions this time.

I think that without the malposition (and cord issues) I should be okay, because I managed for quite sometime without pain relief (using hypnobirthing techniques and deep relaxation) and the actual pushing part was quick and quite easy for me, no tearing (despite his size!) etc.

I am trying to maintain a positive frame of mind to this second labour, as I understand that the malposition and cord issues were just a bad luck thing, not necessarily going to happen again,a nd so far this baby is looking like a more average size (my sone was always 2-3w ahead at EVERY check-up and then came two weeks late). My ob keeps telling me that my body knows what it's doing this time, so I need to trust it will continue to do the right thing, and I trust enough in the accupuncture (I believe it's what helped my waters break in the first place last time and I felt the difference between treatments) to prepare my body to do it all on it's own.

I will definitely talk to my accupuncturist this week (she is at the same place as my chiropractor who I am seeing weekly to keep my spine in alignment, and help an easier birth) and see what she has to offer in the way of pre-labour treatment. I guess it is similar to the chiropractic in that it is a preventaative measure rather than symptomatic treatment, ensuring that the energy chanels are free and open to assist in the right messages going from my brain to my body. I think that is why my chiropractor works with her as they are different techniques that try to achieve a similar thing.

Thanks again.

[BellyBelly]

Cord issues and malposition are such luck of the draw though. About 1/3 of babies are born with the cord around their neck, only a very small percent it is a problem for. The thing is, when you are given syntocinon, it restricts blood and oxygen flow to the baby. It can create a problem (a major cause why synto labours can end in c/s, fetal distress). So your bub had the cord around its neck and induced contractions - which may have been the right or wrong decision, not arguing anything about that, this is just the nature of synto. We dont feel the intensity of the contractions with epidurals but babies do. So previous malposition and cord around the neck do not automatically mean an emergency or even any issues next time. It just happened to be what your baby did at the time.

To avoid that, your acupuncturist can help, other things include www.spinningbabies.com and also get your hands on the pink kit, which amongst other things, teaches you to map your pelvis to learn the shape and tells you what positions are best to adopt to make the most of your pelvis. Active birth is so important, and once membranes have ruptured, you'll often find malpositioned babies find it harder to move. In fact one midwife mentioned in her practice that the day she stopped rupturing membranes was the day she stopped seeing persistant posterior babies. You cant help it when your waters break, but the most important thing to do when it does (and you are time limited) is to get that pelvis moving. Stairs, walking, its just a must.

Did you have a doula? Maybe look into that, if money is tight a student is ideal.

[Aphrael]

jgal - just wanted to let you know I spoke to an acupuncturist last week who advised seeing him at 35 to 36 weeks to start the induction process.

Best of luck with your birth

Cheers,

Beck