Pregnancy Acupuncture To Prepare For Labor

One of my favorite types of treatments we do as an acupuncturist is to prepare a pregnant woman for labor. It is such a powerful time in a woman’s life, standing on the precipice of motherhood, preparing to embark on a very new, very personal journey. Something special can occur during those labor preparation treatments that allows a woman to center and ground herself, while encouraging the the necessary hormonal cascade to fall into place, allowing labor to begin. Labor preparation isn’t only about supporting the onset of labor, it’s about supporting the mother-to-be physically, emotionally, and spiritually as she makes her transition into motherhood.

Generally, I prefer to see my patients prior to the 3rd trimester so that I can monitor their health and their bodies through the different stages of pregnancy. From my experience, women have much better, more positive labor and delivery outcomes when they receive regular, on-going acupuncture care. Labors tend to be quicker to progress, shorter in duration, and fewer interventions are needed.

Prior to full-term (before around 40 weeks), I will tailor acupuncture treatments to support the mom, the baby, and the pregnancy by addressing any symptoms or ailments that may be causing discomfort or health issues. Common first trimester conditions I see include: nausea, fatigue, heartburn, headaches, irritability, GI issues, joint pain, ligament discomfort, and sinus issues.

As the mother nears full-term, I address issues such as: physical discomfort, edema, heartburn, breech positioning, insomnia, and anxiety. Also, the closer she gets to 40 weeks, the more I begin to turn treatment goals towards preparing the body, the uterus, and the cervix for labor and delivery.

Once a woman reaches full-term in a healthy pregnancy, treatments may include acupoints aimed at supporting oxytocin production. Oxytocin, one of the hormones necessary for labor, can be supported with various acupuncture point protocols. By encouraging the natural production of oxytocin in her body, there is less of a chance she’ll have to receive the pharmacological version, Pitocin, at the hospital.

There was a small study done at the University of North Carolina https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16966110/ that showed evidence supporting the use of acupuncture and induction of labor. The study demonstrated that women who received acupuncture therapy were more likely to go into labor without a medical intervention.

This study included 56 women who were 39.5 to 41 weeks pregnant. Half of the women received three acupuncture sessions, while the other half did not. Seventy percent of the women who got acupuncture went into labor spontaneously, compared to 50% who received standard care. The women who had acupuncture were also less likely to deliver by cesarean section — 39% compared to 17%.

“We had almost a 50% reduction in the C-section rate,” says researcher Terry Harper, MD. Harper, who now practices maternal fetal medicine in Albuquerque, says the small size of her study means more research is needed. She hopes acupuncture might one day help more women give birth vaginally.

This study mirrors what I’ve experienced in my clinical practice. It’s impossible to know if acupuncture will encourage the onset of labor for every woman, but the majority of patients respond after 1-3 treatments.