As I approach my due date, I have become more and more anxious to start labor and meet my new baby (and, get my old body back – oh, how I miss laying on my stomach!) I have heard lots of ways to start labor, such as:
- eating spicy foods
- getting a foot massage
- getting a pedicure
- taking long walks
- having sex
But one I haven’t heard much about is acupuncture to induce labor.
A friend of mine (from Santa Cruz, CA) swears by it! Her labor with her first child was so painful and long: four hours of hard labor with back-to-back contractions, and two hours of pushing! When she became pregnant with her second child, she had to find a way to make her labor easier. Alas… she discovered acupuncture. She scheduled an appointment with a local acupuncturist a couple of days before her induction date. (She needed to be induced because of preeclampsia.) The first needle that was inserted into her body instantly started her labor! Her labor was shorter, her contractions were more manageable, and she only pushed for 23 minutes!
With a story like that, how can I not consider acupuncture! I wish I could see her acupuncturist in Santa Cruz, but it’s just too far from my hospital. I’d probably end up having my baby on the freeway! So now I start my search for an acupuncturist. Wish me luck!