Debra Betts and acupuncture during pregnancy and birth

Debra Betts is a nurse who did her acupuncture training in London in 1989.

When she returned to NZ she set up a private practice in Wellington specialising in pregnancy and women's health care.

By 1997 she was teaching acupuncture courses to midwives and she's now a leading expert in obstetric acupuncture.

In particular, Debra advocates the use of acupuncture to assist with:

Morning sickness - acupuncture is completely safe during pregnancy. At a time when most drug therapies are not available to women, it provides welcome relief from debilitating nausea and vomiting. Click here to find out more.

Threatened miscarriage - currently Debra is completing her PhD examining the effect of acupuncture on threatened miscarriage.

Breech presentation - read more about this in the article above.

Pre-birth acupuncture - the use of acupuncture to prepare women for labour was first researched in the 1970s by Kubista and Kucera. They found that acupuncture once per week from 37 weeks was successful in reducing the average labour time of women treated. 

Birth acupressure or acupuncture for pain relief - Debra is very passionate about providing women access to information that helps them have a smoother birth. She has created a free downloadable booklet that teaches people how to use acupressure for pain relief during labour. She is also very active in teaching midwives how to use acupuncture to support woman during birth.