Post-pregnancy

Many women find childbirth exhausting and coping with a newborn baby very difficult.  This coupled with suddenly having no time to eat properly, or rest, means that the woman’s body is under a great deal of stress.  Not many women nowadays have relatives on-hand to help out and try to do everything themselves.  In Chinese Medicine there is a saying that if the new mother is treated like a princess for the 10 days following birth, her overall health will improve but if treated like a pauper, her health will deteriorate.  (I recommend “Traditional Chinese Medicine for Women: Reflections of the Moon on Water” by Xiaolan Zhao which contains commonsense advice and recipes for recovery from childbirth.)

Give all that, it seems a lot to ask to come in for an acupuncture session, but if you can escape for ½ hour then I can help with:

• Mastitis
• Stress
• Fatigue
• Post-operative recovery

I highly recommend Cranial-sacral therapy for babies who are having problems (difficulty feeding, colic, restlessness) after the birth, especially if the birth was long, complicated, difficult or very fast.  I recommend Tez Sawicki at the Whole Works, Edinburgh (www.wholeworks.co.uk)and Ewan Kenny (www.ewankenny.com) at Mulberry House (www.mulberryhouse.co.uk ).

 

Case study, Post-pregnancy:

Jane, 36, had given birth 5 weeks previously.  She was now suffering from fatigue, not enough breast milk and the onset of mastitis.  I used acupuncture to help her milk flow and to boost her flagging energy levels but also recommended Flurodix which is a fabulous supplement for all women, especially those who are pregnant or breast-feeding.   The following treatment – with baby in tow – I used acupuncture to de-stress and to keep her milk flowing.  After that she felt much better.  She went home with a determination to ask others for help - so she could eat properly and rest as much as is possible with a new-born child.