Imagine someone gave a you a magical seed and told you that if you nurtured it gently, and protected it from harm it would grow into the love of your life in 10 months. Knowing this would you take the seed jogging? Would you take it to a full day at the office and stick it in your pocket and work overtime? Would you surround the seed with adult levels of daily stress and hope for the best? Probably not the best approach.
When I see pregnant women in our San Francisco acupuncture clinic, the most important part of my job is helping to restructure the way women take care of and nurture themselves. We help women from the first moments of fertility through their pregnancy and well into the post-partum period understand that what is healthy and attractive in a busy city woman isn’t always nurturing to a tiny embryo and a very delicate, developing nervous system.
Because pregnant women cannot avoid stress, acupuncture is the perfect antidote to washing this stress away. Regular acupuncture during pregnancy can help create a strong base for healthy moms and babies. Women who receive acupuncture during pregnancy often have shorter and easier labors, are less likely to be induced, and receive fewer interventions. At our San Francisco acupuncture location prenatal acupuncture is tailored to each mother, throughout the weeks of her pregnancy.
In the early weeks we use acupuncture protocols to treat morning sickness, migraines, and bleeding. In a recent Australian study, acupuncture is shown to be effective in relieving morning sickness or the potentially more dangerous hyperemesis gravidarum (severe vomiting during pregnancy). The study published in the journal Birth reports that those who received traditional acupuncture reported having less frequent and shorter periods of nausea than the women who received no acupuncture. These improvements were felt immediately and lasted throughout the study’s four-week duration.
During the second trimester, acupuncture can help maintain balance, alleviate heartburn, hemorrhoids and stress. We also take advantage of this time to focus on proper nutrition. Growing fetuses need rich, warm, fatty foods like meat and stews. Again, not what women are used to hearing is “healthy,” but for fertility, pregnancy, and post-partum these nutrient dense grounding foods are essential to establish hormonal regulation and fuel the body so it can better process stress.
During the third trimester acupuncture can also be used to treat edema, elevated blood pressure or excessive weight gain, back pain, stress, anxiety, and many other common ailments during pregnancy. And in the final weeks of pregnancy, we use Pre-Birth acupuncture to help prepare the baby and mother’s body for labor.
If you interested in acupuncture for pregnancy, please contact us! We have a full list of helpful services, doula recommendations, and the expertise to help make your magical little seed as strong, calm, and healthy as possible.
