Having received specialised training from renowned Midwife and Acupuncturist Debra Betts as well as working for years with women during pregnancy, I consider it an honour to offer prenatal and postnatal Acupuncture treatments.
The Chinese have a belief that the health of the mother during pregnancy must be upheld as conditions formed in pregnancy can often be long lasting and stubborn to treat. In the same manner one has the potential to better the overall health of the mother (and thus the child) during this potent time. For this reason pregnancy is an excellent time to receive this gentle and beneficial treatment.
Pre-Birth Acupuncture
Pre-Birth Acupuncture can be offered weekly from 36 weeks until delivery and is an excellent way to prepare the body for labour. Pre-Birth Acupuncture is not an induction, rather it encourages a natural, spontaneous beginning to labour when baby and mother are ready. Based on a New Zealand study* acupuncture has been shown to lessen the time in labour and decrease intervention rates. If you’re new to Acupuncture and would like more information on your first visit, click here To book an appointment please click here.
Pregnancy Acupuncture
Acupuncture for specific conditions:
Acupuncture offers the ability to create unique treatment protocols that can help to reduce many of the unwanted symptoms of pregnancy that challenge a woman on a daily basis. The uniqueness of Acupuncture during this time is that one not only experiences the calming and energising effect of Acupuncture but also the lessening of symptoms.
From the patient’s perspective:
“I was suffering greatly from ‘all day nausea’ and vomiting between 4 to 5 times every day from the time I was 6 weeks pregnant. I was exhausted and overwhelmed, and to top it all off I had an active toddler to look after who had just stopped napping during the day! … I decided that I had nothing to lose by trying and contacted Lauren. She quickly responded and from the tone of her email I had a good and positive feeling about trying it out. She put me at ease as soon as I was in for my appointment and we chatted about how I was feeling. All in all, I had 3 sessions and she suggested a few things that I could try to eat and drink to ease the nausea and vomiting. By the time I went in for my second acupuncture session, the vomiting had reduced to 1 to 2 times daily, and I was finally able to keep fluids down! By my third session I was starting to feel semi-normal and able to concentrate and focus on some work I had to do. Between the sessions, the advice and most importantly the warm and caring nature of Lauren, I was well able to get back to feeling fairly well for the rest of my first trimester. I can not recommend this highly enough to anyone who experiences difficult first trimesters in pregnancy.RKM.”
Acupuncture can help with problems during pregnancy such as:
- Nausea
- Sciatica
- Headaches
- Heartburn
- Oedema
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Anemia
- Muscular-skeletal problems
Acupuncture treatments are also an effective way to balance hormonal levels and normalise blood pressure. Additionally, if you find that your baby is malpositioned for birth, acupuncture is an effective way of bringing your baby into the optimal position for birth.
Acupuncture as Maintenance:
Acupuncture on a monthly basis, or on a regular but less frequent basis, is also an excellent way to keep mother and baby healthy for the duration of pregnancy. This type of “tune up” treatment protocol helps to ensure that potential health risks are caught early as well as maintaining an optimal health. One doesn’t need to have anything “wrong” to benefit from the supportive and relaxing therapies of Acupuncture, Cupping, Moxabustion, and Reflexology. This type of treatment option is in tune with the roots of Acupuncture, whereas it was used as a treatment to maintain ideal health.
This gentle and relaxing treatment can be individualised and enhanced by choosing acupuncture points relevant to a woman’s specific state of health.
As listed above, Acupuncture is effective in the last few weeks in bringing about a natural start of labour and should you find yourself overdue we can help to gently encourage your baby to come with the use of acupuncture.
I went to see Lauren in the late stages of pregnancy to prepare me for birth and in an attempt to avoid retained placenta which I had in my previous 2 pregnancies. I had 4 treatments and could not have been happier, I felt completely supported and in the best possible hands. I received not only acupuncture but also cupping and reflexology. The treatments themselves were conducted to very high professional standards and I was completely at ease with Lauren whose gentle and compassionate personality shone through. Best of all though was that the birth of my beautiful daughter went peacefully and the placenta came out without any need for surgery. I would recommend Lauren and acupuncture to anyone.
~ Pernille Burns