I was very naive when I became pregnant with my first child, I thought the only painful part of giving birth would be when the baby’s head comes out. How wrong I was…
Although I felt that I had prepared myself for birth with acupuncture, yoga, pregnancy massage and eating fresh organic food, once labour started I was in shock. I couldn’t believe how much it hurt.
Luckily with my background in TCM I instructed my husband to press as hard as he could on the acupuncture points that supports labour and pain relief, I also gave myself acupuncture in the early stages of labour and 52 hours later our daughter was born in a birthing pool in our living room.
I don’t think it was only down to luck that I had managed to have the birthing experience I had wished for.
I had prepared for pregnancy and labour by giving myself regular acupuncture as well as taking pregnancy yoga classes, I ate healthy and was active throughout the entire pregnancy.
Even though everything went well I was left quite scared of the pain for my second pregnancy.
Alva Haydn Michika born 18 January 2010
So when we decided to have a second child I wanted to be even more prepared. I took it to the next level and prepared as if I were to run a marathon, my first labour took 52 hours after all from start to finish. We took hypno-birthing classes and I found an amazing pregnancy yoga teacher. I read all the books I could find on home births and just like with the first time I gave myself acupuncture throughout the pregnancy and labour. Our second child was born after a 9 hour labour and I found it much easier second time around although she was a massive 5kg.
Leni Clara Hydon born 26 July 2015
I believe it is imperative for mothers-to-be to seek out information and prepare themselves physically and mentally as early as possible, even before becoming pregnant.
From a Chinese medicine perspective, it is important to to keep the qi (energy flow) and blood in harmony to ensure a smooth pregnancy.
Acupuncture can be helpful for these conditions during pregnancy:
Nausea and vomiting
Heartburn
Constipation
Varicose veins, haemorrhoids and vulval varicosities
Urinary tract infections
Musculoskeletal conditions
Fatigue and exhaustion
Anaemia
Insomnia
Anxiety and depression
Vaginal discharge and itching
Sinusitis
Hypertension
Oedema
Breech and posterior positions
Induction
I didn’t know much about heavy metals and toxicity for my first pregnancy but as I had become more interested in child development I started studying about how the foetus inherits the mothers toxic load, so I had myself and our first born tested. It turned out that we both had a higher than usual level of various heavy metals in our bodies. I put this down to the fact that both my husband and I are heavily tattooed and fully vaccinated.
Tattoo inks contain a wide range of chemicals and heavy metals, including some that are potentially toxic and Thiomersal (or Thimerosal) is a mercury compound used as a preservative in some vaccines.
So before becoming pregnant for our second child I took Zeolite (volcanic ash) to detoxify myself of heavy metals and other toxic load I was carrying. After our second child was born, we tested her for heavy metal and she is not overloaded with any.
Bio-resonance can be helpful in analysing whether a pregnant woman needs nutritional support, has a toxic overload or hormonal imbalances. It is safe and has no contra-indications.