1. Relief of morning sickness, even when it comes at its most severe form – hyperemesis gravidarum
2. Migraine and other headache relief
3. Reduced pelvic pain
4. Reduced varicose veins
5. Relieves constipation
6. Can help anxiety
7. Can balance either high or low blood pressure
8. Can relieve tender breasts
9. Can help reduce fatigue
10. Can relieve constipation
11. Can help with back ache
12. May stop spotting or bleeding during the early months of your pregnancy
13. Can relieve heartburn
14. Can help to shrink haemorrhoids
15. May help with depression during pregnancy and also afterwards
16. One acupuncture treatment per month can help reduce stress

If you’ve never seen moxibustion pregnancy breech presentation before, it can seem a little bit unusual. What seems to be a cigar stick is placed to smoulder away above a particular acupuncture point, in this case the relevant pointers on the little toe. This cigar stick is made up of her which is called moxa.

Although acupuncture is something that we’ve only become more open to over the last decade or two in the Western world, its practice in the East has a history of more than 2500 years. Chinese medical practitioners and acupuncturists operate based on the belief that we have meridians, which are basically a series of internal pathways, in our bodies. What you and I may considered to be normal energy is viewed by them as vital energy. The name for this vital energy is chi, which is also spelt qi. It’s pronounced as Chee. Chi Runs through these internal pathways, and when its flow is smooth and regular we experience good health. However for a whole host of reasons chi can become blocked.

When an acupuncturist pokes a patient with a needle, it’s not some kind of random poking. Each of us have over 1000 acupuncture points in our bodies, that are placed along these pathways called meridians. So a qualified acupuncturist knows exactly what combination of acupuncture points to needle you with, in order to have the desired effect.

There are a small selection of acupuncture points which any qualified acupuncturist knows should be avoided during pregnancy:

The points L14, SP6 and points on the sacrum can cause contractions.

On the lower abdomen there is a point where the acupuncturist needs to be careful of not needing to deep.

The same applies to a point on the lower back, deep meeting must be avoided.

References:

http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/public-content/public-pr-press-releases/acupuncture-and-pregnancy.html

http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy-acupuncture.aspx