Anyone do acupuncture to help prepare for labor?

[BabyBearsMom]

Title says it all. I'm 39 weeks tomorrow and trying to do everything I can to get my body ready for my VBAC. My midwife recommended that I contact an acupuncturist that she works with to help move me along. I've had acupuncture before for other things, and while I found it relaxing, I didn't find it actually helped the problem. This also seems very crunchy to me, and I don't really consider myself the crunchy type, so I am having trouble reconciling this with my own self image, if that makes any sense. Has anyone done acupuncture? Did it work?

FWIW, I'm already taking tons of evening primrose oil and black cohosh and doing lots of yoga squats. They are monitoring my cervix closely because of the VBAC and as of last week I was 80% effaced and 1.5cm dialated and the baby is LOW (like I can feel her head all the freaking time), so she is moving along. I know lots of ladies here are anti-internal exam, but I feel like I want to monitor this closely with the VBAC (the more info I have, the better). Plus, if for some reason I get more dialated, I would stop going into work since I commute 20 miles each way through heavy traffic and do not want to go in labor in the car.

[lmh2402]

i did have acupuncture at a little over 39 weeks with DS. i was concerned b/c i was 0% dilated and 0% effaced and my doctor was starting to talk about scheduling me to go in for NSTs every four days or so b/c my fluid levels seemed low, etc, etc. I was panicking at the thought of induction and any other type of testing. So I figured I’d give it a try. Had acupuncture on Saturday. Went into labor on Monday. Probable was, I remained 0% dilated and effaced until very late on Wed b/c DS was asynclitic, but that was totally unrelated.

So overall, I don’t know if it helped or not. I kind of think maybe it did. And also kind of think, maybe it wasn’t the best decision b/c maybe I should have been trying to bring on labor, when he was clearly not positioned quite right at the time.

I dunno…that’s probably not overly helpful. Sorry

[sntm]

Acupuncture is actually one of the few complimentary-type medicine practices that has some data behind it, though I'm not sure about for labor induction. It is definitely been shown to improve pain symptoms.

I'm a breast surgeon, and I have a patient (definitely a non-crunchy type - she's an aeronautics engineer and about as pragmatic as I've met) who got relief of her postoperative frozen should finally after acupuncture when nothing else worked. I was impressed.

I got three sessions for various pregnancy symptoms, which did improve, though not sure what did it. On the last session, DS was getting sick and I was feeling scratchy throat etc (I usually get bad symptoms of whatever DS has that lasts him only a day or two) and she did something that was supposed to rev up my immune system. DS was out of school for three days and I never got it. That never happens, though I'm still thinking it was probably coincidence.

So, worth a try :)

[queenmama]

I'm not trying it because I'm not ready to go into labor (hoping she's a little late, actually!) but it does work if that's what you're after.

I will employ acupressure when I'm in labor, as there are several excellent points for that.

Good luck!

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[Tondi G]

I had Acupuncture 2 times before DS2 was born. My OB was leaning towards inducing on my EDD and I had a drug free delivery with DS1 .... wanted the same with DS2. I had an OB appt., went directly to my acupuncturist afterwards.... fell asleep on the table (best nap I had in weeks). By the time I got home I was spotting. A couple of hours later I had a couple of strong contractions (out at dinner) .. home and went to sleep. Woke up to good strong contractions at around 3am.... headed to the hospital around 6am and DS2 was born a couple of hours later!

My Chiropractors wife also saw the acupuncturist a few days before her due date ... went on a Friday afternoon, I think, and had the baby on Sunday.

[Multimama]

I did acupuncture with DS2 and got my VBAC. But I was also much further along (both in weeks and dilation).

It is my understanding you can do acupuncture to get your body ready for labor and then there is acupuncture to induce labor. I wouldn't be trying to induce labor before your due date unless you are facing a medical induction or c-section. As PP said, you may go into labor before you and baby are ready. But IMO acupuncture definitely works to induce labor and there are studies behind it.

[BabyBearsMom]

I did acupuncture with DS2 and got my VBAC. But I was also much further along (both in weeks and dilation).

It is my understanding you can do acupuncture to get your body ready for labor and then there is acupuncture to induce labor. I wouldn't be trying to induce labor before your due date unless you are facing a medical induction or c-section. As PP said, you may go into labor before you and baby are ready. But IMO acupuncture definitely works to induce labor and there are studies behind it.

Totally agree, I don't want to induce labor. I am just trying to get my body as ready as possible. Since I'm doing a VBAC, I feel a lot more pressure to get as far along as I can before I get to the hospital, kwim?

[Mopey]

Hey lady!

I hope you are hanging in there okay! It sounds like things are moving along so that's promising and exciting :)

One of my dearest did acupuncture (the whole time as well) and she went into labor less than two days later! I think it is definitely worth a shot - and I'm like you - I feel like it helps because it's relaxing but I've only done acupuncture for work-related body issues.

Luck & mojo to you! You're in my thoughts!

:thumbsup:

[Multimama]

Since I'm doing a VBAC, I feel a lot more pressure to get as far along as I can before I get to the hospital, kwim?

Oh, I absolutely know what you mean! I wish you the best of luck. And honestly, I do think that a lot of it is luck when it comes to getting a VBAC. (I felt incredibly lucky to get mine.) Well, luck and an awesome support team!

But if it gets to the point where you need something to induce I definitely think acupuncture works if your body just needs a strong push in that direction.

[BabyBearsMom]

Hey lady!

I hope you are hanging in there okay! It sounds like things are moving along so that's promising and exciting :)

One of my dearest did acupuncture (the whole time as well) and she went into labor less than two days later! I think it is definitely worth a shot - and I'm like you - I feel like it helps because it's relaxing but I've only done acupuncture for work-related body issues.

Luck & mojo to you! You're in my thoughts!

:thumbsup:

Thanks for the mojo and PT :hug:

I bit the bullet and made the appointment for Saturday, so I guess we will see. I spoke with the acupuncturist for a while on the phone about how I wasn't interested in inducing labor but I want to help my body prepare for labor when it came on my own. She seemed very knowledgeable and talked about how we could do things to soften my cervix and focus on slow and natural dialation. She also said she was going to give me a series of acupressure instructions for my DH with instructions for what to do to prepare for labor and what to do after labor starts to help move things along. Worst case scenario, I'm out $75 and it isn't like I haven't wasted $75 before, right?

[kellij]

I just had my second vbaMc on 3/29. I had a chiro do acupuncture. My midwife did a sweep at 39 weeks and I went into labor that night. Good luck!

[mctlaw]

Bumping for Kellij! Congrats!