Natural Ways to Induce Labor - Maternity Acupressure

Getting relief from labor pains during childbirth and labor is one of the major issues pregnant women will most probably discuss with other expectant mothers, midwifes and doctors.

Many women hope to have natural childbirth without pain drugs but find labor so difficult they end up requesting an epidural, which provides pain relief through injection of a painkiller into the epidural space at the base of the spine. Ideally, the epidural only dulls the pain, and women remain alert and can still play an active role in labor.

However, there is a downside. Epidural pain relief may also slow labor and may make the pushing stage longer and more difficult because women lose sensation in their lower body. Even when very little drug is administered, some hospitals won’t let women walk around once they’ve had an epidural.

Now a study published in the medical journal Reproductive Health suggests that women can reduce their labor pains and decrease their risk for needing pain relief long before labor starts. Researchers from Brazil recruited 71 expectant mothers prior to their 20th week of pregnancy. The women weren’t regular exercisers at the time of the study.

The investigators randomly assigned 34 women to a regular water aerobics course which lasted 50 minutes three days a week. The remaining 37 women in the control group didn’t exercise.

The light aerobic exercise didn’t have any effect on the duration or type of delivery the women experienced. But there were dramatic differences in terms of requests for pain relief. Among women who didn’t exercise, two out of three women requested epidural pain relief during labor. But among the water aerobics group, only 27 percent of women asked for pain drugs.

This study shows that there is indeed a lot what a pregnancy woman can do in order to make her labor easier. It’s important to note that moderate exercise during pregnancy can markedly lower a birthing woman’s need for epidural pain relief when she delivers her baby.

Another proven method to relieve labor pains is labor acupressure. In studies it has shown to increase the level of endorphins in circulation. Endorphins are your body’s own natural painkillers. In addition acupressure during labor significantly reduces anxiety and nervousness and relieves tension.