Acupuncture to induce labor

2023 Author: Anita Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 18:44

At childbirth, most women want to avoid medical induction. They can then turn to acupuncture, an effective and non-invasive alternative to promote triggering.

How do treatments work?

Treatments can stimulate the body through the various stages that lead to active labor. Several points allow to:

• Stimulate the uterus
• Drop down baby
• Soften the collar

The needles also lead the woman to relax and enter a state of intimacy that allows openness.

As each woman experiences her pregnancy in a unique way, your acupuncturist will adapt the treatment according to your condition. Information on your obstetrical state (state of your cervix: dilation, effacement, soft or rigid, anterior or posterior cervix, and baby's height) allows the acupuncturist to work better. You can ask your doctor or midwife for this information.

Unlike medical triggering, the acupuncturist works in harmony with your body, respecting the delicate balance of hormones.

When to start treatment?

Tofrom the 40^{e week}

If there is no medical reason for your doctor or your midwife to want to induce labor before 41 weeks and 6 days (the generally accepted limit), you can start treatments from the 40^{e week.}

From 36^{e week}

For women who have had problems during a previous delivery and wish to avoid medical induction, treatments can begin at 36 weeks. From week 36^e to week 39^{e, the acupuncturist will stimulate points to prepare the body for childbirth. These treatments mainly act on the cervix, uterus and perineum. In addition to promoting natural labor, acupuncture treatments can relieve many late-pregnancy discomforts.}

Preterm acupuncture induction

Certain medical conditions related to pregnancy may lead your doctor or midwife to want to induce premature labor:

• Gestational Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• In-utero growth retardation
• Woman over 40
• Twin pregnancy

Acupuncture treatments to try to induce preterm labor are then indicated. Sometimes treatments do not induce labor, but prepare the body for induction, which will then be facilitated.

Some women come to me to triggerdelivery before the expected date. Several reasons lead the couple to decide that it would be better for the baby to be born at a certain time rather than letting nature take its course (women's discomfort or exhaustion, spouse's professional commitments, foreign family here for a while limited, etc). If there are no medical reasons for induction, I normally recommend acupuncture treatments aimed at preparing the body for childbirth and treating the discomforts associated with the end of pregnancy.

Number of treatments needed

Some women go into labor after their first treatment. More often, however, two or three treatments are required to achieve the desired results.