Birth and Labor Preparation Acupuncture
At East Bay Acupuncture, we have created a plan to prepare you, your body, and your baby for a beautiful passage to meet your little one(s).
If you are interested in natural preparation for childbirth, our Well Birth Program starts at your 36th week and continues until you are ready to give birth. Whether you are planning a home birth, a hospital birth, an epidural, vaginal birth, or even an elective cesarean birth, prenatal acupuncture in the last weeks of your pregnancy will aid you in your birth process and subsequent healing and recovery.
Evidence has shown that people who receive weekly acupuncture leading up to their birth often have fewer interventions and shorter labors.
Labor Preparation acupuncture starts at week 36
Labor preparation acupuncture starts as close to week 36 as possible so that you can get comfortable with acupuncture, and we have time to create any shifts that you need to get ready for your birth experience. Since acupuncture is a form of physical therapy, our bodies respond better to a series of treatments. Weekly treatments starting at week 36 help kickstart the hormones needed for cervical ripening in these early weeks, get your baby engaged in your pelvis, and help relieve pain and tension.
Birth preparation acupuncture after 40 weeks
What if you just found us and you are 40 weeks pregnant or hoping to avoid medical induction? In this case, we offer targeted acupuncture treatments for labor preparation as close together as possible to aid you in achieving the birth outcome you are hoping for. These acupuncture sessions can include e-stim and always include acupuncture points to stimulate labor. It’s rare that one treatment pushes someone into labor, though it does happen when someone has already noticed some labor progression. More commonly, a few treatments in the same week are needed.
Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Breech Presentation
If you just found out that your baby is breech, you may be experiencing feelings of anxiety and disappointment. We are here for you. We offer weekly acupuncture and in-depth moxibustion tutorials to help get your baby into the optimal position for vaginal birth.
We recommend scheduling your appointment as soon as you know your baby is breech, so we have as much time as possible to support you. We will do everything we can to get your baby in an optimal position for birth and help you have the birth you envisioned.
Why We Don’t Say “Acupuncture for Labor Induction” at East Bay Acupuncture.
We prefer the terms acupuncture for birth preparation or acupuncture for labor preparation. We don’t use the term acupuncture for labor induction because we think of acupuncture as more gentle and supportive than Pitocin, the main drug used to induce labor in the hospital. While we can offer strong treatments, especially when someone is past their due date or coming close to an induction date, acupuncture never pushes your body somewhere it isn’t ready to go. We also want you to know that it’s not usually just one acupuncture treatment to prepare for birth; it’s more of a preparation process, and our Oakland prenatal acupuncturists are here to support you in the weeks leading up to your birth!
A few ways Prenatal Acupuncture can help you prepare for childbirth
labor preparation
cervical ripening
stress reduction
prodromal labor
baby position
irregular contractions
pregnancy-related pain
birth recovery
“I love Aimee! She is very kind, sweet, knowledgeable, and gentle. I saw her through the last few months of my pregnancy, and she even came to my home to do a session. She helped me tremendously, and I credit her work for helping me have an enjoyable, virtually pain free, relaxing home birth.”
C.A.
