Pregnancy, birth and post-partum care
Pregnancy is sold as one of the best times of a woman’s life – when you should be glowing and looking like a Hollywood celebrity. However, for most women (including the Hollywood celebrities) pregnancy isn’t often as glamorous as it may seem. Women are often plagued with morning sickness and tiredness in the first trimester which may be anything from bothersome to completely debilitating lasting for a few weeks to almost a whole pregnancy. Later in pregnancy women often experience symptoms including back and pelvic pain, swollen ankles, haemorrhoids and heartburn.
Chinese Medicine has a long history of supporting women throughout their pregnancies and followed complex theories around conception, gestation, birth and post-partum (for both mother and child).
At the Health Connect Shen Clinic we pride ourselves on providing empathetic and supportive care to our pregnant patients, whether in early pregnancy or up until that labour day arrives.
The good news for those suffering from pregnancy related back or pelvic pain is that a Cochrane Review has shown that acupuncture may significantly reduce pelvic and lumbo-pelvic pain, in fact acupuncture was superior to usual prenatal care strategies.
We love educating our patients on traditional Chinese Medicine strategies for managing pain in labour. One such treatment is acupressure for pain relief in labour. We welcome you to bring your birth partner to your appointment so that we can teach you both about acupressure. A review of research has shown that acupuncture and acupressure is promising for managing pain in labour however as the studies vary in style making a firm conclusion on effectiveness according to research is difficult at this point in time.
Traditionally, the Chinese placed great importance on the post-partum period to ensure mothers recover well from their labours. The practice is known as ‘zuo yuezi’ and is affectionally known as The First Forty Days or The Golden Month. Interestingly, this idea is not unique to China, most traditional cultures have a practice around caring for new mothers. Traditionally, The Golden Month involved a period of confinement for the new mother to rest after birth, be nourished with nutritious foods and employ particular personal care and hygiene practices, while family helped her care for her baby and took care of household chores. In modern society, we can adopt the essence of these ideas to nurture new mothers while modifying the practices and employing a team approach with obstetricians, paediatricians, nurses, midwives, lactation consultants, partners, family and friends to benefit each individual woman and her situation.
Call our clinic on 0493 260 261 to discuss your individual health situation with one of our qualified practitioners.
