Pregnant and overwhelmed? You are not alone, with an estimated 1 in 5 women reporting anxiety symptoms throughout their pregnancy & anxiety prevalence peaking during third trimester, anxiety is more common than we think. Expecting mother have also had to face many changes and restrictions to their care delivered during Covid-19 and these unique times have added to the prevalence of perinatal anxiety.
Now, one well known therapy that can assist with anxiety and slow down the parasympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) and silence those bust thoughts is acupuncture.
Acupuncture is considered safe to use in pregnancy, although there can be risks involved, however small, such as localised redness at the needle insertion point. Most ladies find acupuncture gentle, although some are more sensitive than others...after all there are fine needles that are used!
Acupuncture can provide support for perinatal anxiety and permission to stop and rest when life is overwhelming…If you want to test and see if this is the right therapy for you try massaging the point called Yin Tang, located directly between your eyebrows, for 3 minutes and see if this acupuncture point helps.
Remember, you got this, mamma.
Author: Kyla Mayer, Chinese Medicine Practitioner. Kyla began her acupuncture journey in 2007, when she embarked on her 4-year, full time training that included an internship in BeiJing. After graduating from UTS in 2010 and working in many styles of clinics it was very clear that her passions lie in women’s health. Women’s health has been the focus of her practice for the last 8 years and with already being a practising midwife for the las1 17 years, combining her acupuncture and Chinese medicine knowledge with her midwifery skills happened organically.Find out more about her work HERE.