Acupuncture in Labour
I love attending births. It is a magical experience and a great honour to attend a birth. I also love the experience because I feel I have so much to offer the labouring woman.
As an acupuncturist, the main thing I offer is the use of needles and acupressure to help a woman have an efficient and positive labour. Every birth is unique. Acupuncture and acupressure can be used for pain relief, augmentation (making contractions stronger and more effective), relief from nausea, encouraging dilation and fetal descent, improving energy, and helping focus.
In my experience, the use of small auricular needles or tacks (the entire body is mapped out on the auricle of the ear) is the greatest support I can offer. Ear needles do not interfere with the woman’s mobility. My favorite point, Ear Shenmen, has made an enormous difference for many of the women I have supported in labour. On a couple of occasions, I have pressed on that point in the ear through every contraction. If I stepped away, the woman would call me to her ear. She would not want to endure a single contraction without that pressure. In addition to offering intense pain relief (in part by bringing pain to the ear and splitting attention?), the pressure increased a woman’s focus and ability to cope.
I am very interested to hear about other people’s experiences and questions. From my experience, acupuncture is a wonderful support for labour.
