Читать книгу Stand and Deliver!: And other Brilliant Ways to Give Birth - Emma Mahony - Страница 35

Acupuncture deserves special recognition in pregnancy because it is used with a specific technique called moxibustion, which involves the use of compressed herb sticks as heat sources above acupuncture points on the feet to turn a breech baby to head-first. What is more, it claims a 60 per cent success rate.⁶ Acupuncture can also be used for other common pregnancy complaints. If you have never had it before, pregnancy is a good time to start, and it is rather an exciting treatment to have. The sensation of a fine needle being inserted into your skin and the subsequent tingling sensation, which feels like liquid evaporating on your skin as the blockage becomes unblocked, is an extraordinary feeling. In China, acupuncturists are even used to alleviate pain during labour (a sort of needle-happy TENS machine), and for anaesthesia with Caesarean sections.

Shiatsu massage, which is Japanese for ‘finger pressure’, has the added advantage that you don’t need to take your clothes off to have it. No small bonus if, like me, you were waddling in on a cold December day. Shiatsu uses simple pressure and holding techniques and is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, using the principles of meridians and energy lines throughout the body, like acupuncture. It increases circulation, gets rid of toxins and is a gentle way to spend an hour on the floor. I used to book my next session in a dream-like state immediately afterwards – and probably spent the best part of the twins’ annual babygro budget like this.

For details of qualified therapists contact the British Acupuncture Council, 63 Jeddoe Road, London W12 9HQ (tel. 0208 735 0400) or visit www.acupuncture.org.uk and click on Find an Acupuncturist. For The Shiatsu Society, it’s Eastlands Court, St Peters Road, Rugby CV21 3QP (tel. 0845 1304560) or visit www.shiatsu.org.