Introduction
The perinatal period extends from the conception stage to the immediate period following childbirth. During the perinatal period, the woman's body is subjected to tremendous hormone fluctuations, which often precipitate various manifestations that cause discomfort and uneasiness. Though the perinatal period is guided by conventional medical therapies, certain complementary therapies are also adjunctive to cope with some perinatal health concerns. Many complementary therapies, like perinatal acupuncture and acupressure, can go hand in hand with conventional medical strategies.
What Are Perinatal Acupuncture and Acupressure?
Perinatal acupuncture and acupressure are two technically distinct complementary therapies employed for expectant women to ease their manifestations, especially during the perinatal period. These therapies can uplift the general well-being of pregnant women throughout the perinatal period, facilitating an elite birthing experience.
Both perinatal acupuncture and acupressure emerged in China; these Chinese therapeutic techniques gained wide acceptance in tackling perinatal health concerns that troubled expectant women. The basic concept behind acupuncture and acupressure is more or less the same, and the acupressure technique was driven out of the acupuncture technique. These are based on the ideology that the human body possesses certain specific energy points interconnected by a specific track or pathway. Proper energy flow through this channel is assumed to keep the body healthy, and interferences in this pathway precipitate ill health. The energy points, known as acupoints, can be manipulated to obtain favorable body responses, thereby diminishing health issues.
Acupuncture, as the name implies, is employed with the help of very thin needles. These needles are made to pierce through the skin at acupoints, evoking those areas by electric or manual strokes. Once the specific acupoint gets evoked, it enhances the energy flow and health. Obstructed energy flow is reflected in the form of various manifestations like pain and ill health. In acupressure, instead of needle punctures, the acupoints are triggered by a digital or mechanical pressure application. However, specific hypotheses suggest that acupressure evokes the liberation of a specific hormone called endorphin, which can curb pain sensations in the body and make the person feel relaxed and comfortable.
What Are the Therapeutic Effects of Perinatal Acupuncture?
There are various therapeutic claims for the perinatal acupuncture technique. Some of the therapeutic effects that are clinically proven and validated include the following:
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The major application of the perinatal acupuncture technique is during the initiation of labor. The acupuncture technique is employed primarily for labor induction by facilitating cervical widening. However, no studies have proven an appreciable depreciation in the labor duration, even with the acupuncture technique.
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Perinatal acupuncture curbs the necessity for pharmacological pain management using medicines during labor. Various clinical studies have been conducted to expose the beneficial impacts of acupuncture during childbirth. It was unequivocally concluded that expectant women who undertook acupuncture therapy to tackle labor pain experienced appreciable pain alleviation, potentially eliminating the need for other pain-relieving strategies.
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The initial three months of pregnancy often trouble expectant women with morning sickness and a frequent tendency to throw up everything they eat. Acupuncture can effectively bring down nausea and morning sickness, wherein the therapist triggers a specific acupoint called P6 point, which is concerned with digestive health.
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Acupuncture facilitates the correction of wrongly positioned babies within the womb. By evoking appropriate acupoints, acupuncture aids in turning the baby to a more favorable position that facilitates safe childbirth.
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As the expectant women approach the estimated delivery date, particularly towards the third trimester, the dramatic rise in body weight contributes to extensive body pain, back pain, pelvic pain, and leg pain. Perinatal acupuncture works well for tackling joint and bone pain during the later pregnancy stages, which eases the discomfort that a pregnant woman undergoes during the conception stages.
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Placenta retention is a peculiar condition that may be precipitated following childbirth, in which the placenta that is supposed to be expelled out following the baby’s birth fails to do so and remains within the womb for longer than intended. The acupuncture technique is also proven to be beneficial in driving out the retained placenta, which would otherwise cause grave complications in the maternal body.
What Are the Therapeutic Effects of Perinatal Acupressure?
Just like the perinatal acupuncture technique, the acupressure technique employed during the perinatal period also possesses certain therapeutic advantages over the conventional therapies offered for expectant women.
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The contractions and spasms of the muscles that make up the womb are critical during childbirth. More robust and powerful spasmodic activities in the uterus (womb) favor and facilitate labor. The activation and triggering of the concerned acupressure point uplift the spasmodic activities, eventually guiding into successful childbirth.
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Acupressure is proven for its role in inducing labor in expectant women who are indicated for therapeutic labor induction as natural labor fails to initiate even after attaining the estimated delivery date (post-maturity). In such cases, a pharmacological intervention to evoke labor is employed. Acupressure is an alternative therapy to medicine-triggered labor induction, where the therapist performs acupressure on certain specific acupoints. It knocks out the requirement for pharmacological intervention.
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Certain studies have proven that the acupressure technique can also alleviate the vomiting tendency, headache, vertigo, and other manifestations of morning sickness that an expectant woman encounters. It thus enhances the quality of life and makes the pregnancy journey smooth.
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Acupressure techniques for alleviating joint and muscle pain can be taught to the expectant women’s family members, which allows them to be involved in comforting the pregnant women when in need.
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There are acupressure points that can influence breast milk production in new mothers. Triggering the acupoints for enhanced breast milk production precipitates an appreciable hike in breastmilk liberation in new mothers who otherwise fail to discharge sufficient breast milk required for the baby’s nourishment.
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Antepartum mental issues like depression (unexplainable sadness), anxiety (unexplainable fear), and other psychological issues can be easily tackled with acupressure techniques without the aid of pills or other therapeutic interventions.
Do Perinatal Acupuncture and Acupressure Pose Health Risks?
Acupuncture and acupressure are considered to be non-invasive in nature without any extensive therapeutic interventions. No studies could reveal a potential health risk for the expectant mother or the baby. Certain adverse effects like pain at the needle penetration points and susceptibility to insertion point infection are rarely encountered, which are often transient and resolve within a week. However, not all expectant women are supposed to undertake these complementary therapies. A thorough discussion with the concerned doctor and the therapist aids in making informed decisions, and it should be undertaken only under the guidance of trained healthcare professionals.
Conclusion
Acupuncture and acupressure are well-known and widely accepted traditional medicinal therapies that could potentially complement the expectant women’s well-being throughout pregnancy and even during breastfeeding. Seeking therapies from properly trained therapists often eliminates the room for unwanted concerns. These alternative medicinal therapies are never employed to replace surgical interventions like cesarean sections. But they can potentially bring down many of the potential discomforts experienced by expectant women, ranging from morning sickness, mood swings, body pain, cervical widening, and failed labor onset. These therapies guide into a smooth childbirth, thus offering an enhanced birthing experience for the expectant women.
