Pregnancy and Birth
Find out how Katie Kempthorne Naturopathy and Acupuncture will make your pregnancy and birth safer, smoother and fantastic!
Here's info about morning sickness, breech babies, and how to prepare for (and recover from) giving birth.
Click on a link to go straight to the topic:
Pregnancy
Morning sickness
Breech presentation
Birth preparation
Induction
Post-natal health
Pregnancy
The key to a good pregnancy is planning! If you're thinking about starting or adding to your family, we recommend a period of preconception care before the fun begins.
Once you're pregnant, our team can help with everything your bundle-to-be brings.
We don't want to freak you out, but that might include:
- Morning sickness
- Fatigue
- Insomnia, anxiety and depression
- Heartburn, reflux, constipation and gut problems
- Varicose veins and haemorrhoids
- High blood pressure and toxaemia
- Threatened miscarriage
- Water retention
- Anaemia
- Breech presentation
- Back pain and musculoskeletal issues
And when the time comes, we're the people to call for birth preparation, induction and to keep you in great post-natal health.
Morning Sickness
Morning sickness isn't limited to the morning. Some Mums-to-be feel nauseated right through the day, but naturopathy and acupuncture are fantastic ways to combat it.
If you've been through a preconception care programme you'll have minimised your chances of suffering from morning sickness.
If not, there's still hope!
Naturopathy focuses on preventing nausea through your diet. It's about choosing the right types of food and eating them at the right time of day.
There are certain vitamins and minerals that can help, too. And herbs are great for preventing and treating nausea.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture has completely stopped morning sickness in some cases.
Click here to read some articles that have more information about acupuncture and pregnancy.
Breech Presentation
In a study of women with breech babies at the 33-week mark, 75% of those treated with acupuncture had their babies turn. That's compared with 47.4% of the control group.
That's a pretty impressive result!
Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment for breech babies involves acupuncture along with the use of heat sticks (moxa) at home. All you do is apply the moxa to your little toes from the 34th week of your pregnancy.
Give us a call if you've been told your baby is breech and we'll do our best to make sure you can have a natural birth.
Birth preparation
Even if you've had the cruisiest pregnancy possible, acupuncture is a fantastic pre-birth treatment.
A team of researchers discovered that the average labour time for women having their first baby was reduced by 1.5 hours if they had pre-birth acupuncture. (You can check out the study in our articles.)
It makes sense.
Pre-birth acupuncture helps ripen the cervix and gets good energy flowing through the pelvis and uterus.
The process involves 4 treatments - either twice a week from 38 weeks, or once a week from 36 weeks.
Herbal medicine also prepares your body for an easy labour.
Our naturopaths will put together a herbal remedy just for you to encourage strong uterine tone, good circulation and the nervous-system support you'll need.
Induction
Tick-tock… tick-tock… Still waiting?
Medically induced labour is appealing when you're past your due date. But it increases the need for medical intervention during birth.
The Katie Kempthorne team will do their best to get you into labour naturally.
Acupuncture is a great way to bring on labour when you're overdue. Make sure you come and see us at least 3 days before your medical induction is planned so the treatment can take effect.
Herbal medicine can be just as effective if acupuncture's not your bag.
Come and have a chat to see what's right for you.
Post-natal health
Adjusting to a new baby brings physical, mental and emotional challenges.
The key to getting through is having the support to look after your health as well as your baby.
We offer support to:
- Boost your energy levels
- Help you recover and heal from the birth
- Combat stress, anxiety and post-natal depression
- Deal with lactation issues
- Manage your weight
As a new Mum you might also have to cope with an unsettled baby.
Your diet and natural medicine can effectively treat your new-born if he or she suffers from colic, reflux, constipation, rashes, or sleep patterns that make you tear your hair out.
If you're having any problems - call us!