Birth Q & A

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PUSH San Diego is dedicated to ensuring your birthing experience is as seamless as possible for both you and baby. The team collaborates to gently encourage the onset of labor through personalized acupuncture treatments.

Acupuncture supports your body and triggers the labor process once your baby is ready. The team modifies each treatment according to three levels of intensity (from low to medium to high), depending on the unique circumstances surrounding your pregnancy. 

What are the benefits of acupuncture before labor and birth?

With acupuncture, as your body starts releasing hormones, including prostaglandins, your cervix ripens and your ligaments loosen. Plus, your acupuncture treatments release oxytocin to help you relax. Acupuncture has even been shown to:

• Help maintain a healthy blood pressure
• Reduce your rate of medical intervention
• Shorten the duration of active labor
• Turn a malpositioned baby 
• Minimize stress and anxiety
• Boost your energy
• Reduce pain 

Acupuncture before labor and birth is highly beneficial for vaginal birth after Cesarean section (VBAC), particularly because of the effects of tissue-relaxing hormones. 

Coming in to PUSH San Diego for regular acupuncture treatments before birth is entirely pain-free. Treatments provide relaxing effects, and you have access to a team of women’s health experts who can answer all of the questions you may have before your big day. 

When can I start acupuncture for birth?

You are welcome to start at any point along your pregnancy journey.  Ideally, you should get started on your birth treatment plan between weeks 36-38. PUSH San Diego generally recommends weekly sessions during this time. Beginning at week 38, you can undergo acupuncture twice a week. 

If you’re going past your due date and don’t want to undergo an induction, you can come in to PUSH San Diego daily or every other day between weeks 40-42. With ongoing acupuncture treatments, your body produces its own hormones, so you begin experiencing that gradual promotion of labor in the most natural manner possible. 

How does acupuncture during labor work?

We pride ourselves on teaching both the birthing parent and partner to use acupressure to prepare for and during labor. During labor, you can undergo acupuncture treatments to help reduce pain and keep you calm. This type of acupuncture is a little different because you may need several needles to treat multiple points simultaneously. 

As labor progresses, your provider targets one or two points at a time. Your PUSH professional can seamlessly weave the acupuncture into the rhythm of your contractions/surges, while incorporating massage, auricular acupuncture (which attaches to your ear), or electrical stimulation to help you manage discomfort throughout your labor and birth.