Need a needle?  Acupuncture for Birth  Preparation – A clients view

My Journey – By Melissa Nicholson ( Client).

As part of my first pregnancy, I decided that I would try a bit of everything. I had been paying sky high private health insurance premiums and thought to try and maximise the value. One of the most intriguing treatments was acupuncture. Acupuncture is one of the oldest medicinal arts and one of the few complementary therapies that is recognised by therapeutic councils and proven clinical studies as having a statistically significant impact on infertility and pain. To my mind, anything that’s been tested for thousands of years must have some merit and I was keen to see what all the fuss was about!

 

 

Through my fitness training with Fit For 2, Anita connected me with Julia Bartrop – Acupuncturist at Rebalance Chinese Medicine in Eltham. Julia was a dream. Each session started with a focus on wholistic health, feeling more like a kind friend enquiring after my changing body than a cold clinician. After listening and observing, Julia would then apply her vast knowledge to focus on whatever she had picked up and bring out the needles.

 

 

Elephant in the room – let’s talk about the needles. Being a human pincushion was surprisingly pain free. Sometimes you might feel a slight warming or cooling sensation, or some other part of your body will tingle, but it wasn’t like getting a flu jab or IVF needle, and they are delicately placed. So delicately in fact that I often fell asleep on the table. . .. and sleep is a very valuable and sometimes hard come by commodity while pregnant!

 

Come late term, I would waddle glumly through the heat into Julia’s office, only to almost skip out after 45 minutes, with new energy.

 

When I went into labour, my obstetrician was amazed at how quickly I dilated. I was complimented on my “wonderfully ripe cervix” – a strange compliment, but a compliment nonetheless and one I attribute at least in part to the work Julia put in.

 

While I certainly enjoyed many a nap on Julia’s table, my favourite session was during the preparations for labour where my partner came and was guided through acupressure points for pain relief. This gave my husband an important job in the delivery room. On the day, my husband was trained and ready to go and able to personally provide me relief with touch which was an amazing connection in what can be an otherwise strangely helpless time for partners.

 

I am so grateful that I took acupuncture as a part of my pregnancy journey, and I would definitely recommend giving it a shot if you’ve been considering it.

Written By: Melissa Nicholson

 

If you are wanting to book in for the couples Birth Preparation Acupressure appointment n- please book here

Dr Julia begins Birth Preparation at 34 weeks.

Remember with birth preparation – anything is better than nothing – and you get a NAP! How god is that.

We are a family friendly clinic – your welcome to bring in your children – we love to look after them!

Book your appointment today – or call us on 0412 789 772!