Acupuncture & Acupressure Points for Labour and Birth

Join Olivia Paul, Naturopath, as she demonstrates the top 4 acupressure points to use to help with labour induction and labour pain.

Hi everyone, this is Dr. Olivia here. I just wanted to jump on here and connect with you all and kind of give you some information that could be of use to you. In-person visits are on hold, workshops are on hold, free workshops are on hold.

A popular one is acupressure for labour and delivery. I thought I’d come on here and kind of run through four of the most useful points during labor and delivery. To help those Mamas who are approaching their due date and feeling a little bit anxious about having missed out on that in-person workshop. Of course, I hope you guys are all doing well.

We’re just going to jump right in the first point, gallbladder 21. I’m going to have; Doctor Olivia is going to be our model for this one. This point is helpful for the descent of your baby helping to push baby down into the birth canal and it’s also useful for labor induction. The point is found at the turnaround, actually at the midpoint of these two points here, so we’re going to find the biggest point at the base of your neck. Then the tip of your shoulder. If those are the two points you want to find first, then this point lies directly in between the two of them. Right in the middle of the shoulder usually in quite a tender point. You want to apply firm downward pressure hold for 15 seconds and then release. And you can repeat doing that for up to five minutes to kind of speed things along and to get labor contractions started and to help with the descent of baby.

So I’m just going to run through that one more time. You’re going to follow the neck down until you find the nice big bony prominence at the base of your neck, you’re going to find the tip of the shoulder. This point lies directly in between the two, it’s called gallbladder 21.

The next point is actually found on the lower back so in the sacrum actually. What you’re going to do is you’re going to actually locate your hip, your thumbs will fall into a nice depression, and then you’re going to slide just towards the spine and below. You’ll find another depression and that is urinary bladder 32. This point is helpful for labor induction cervical dilation and pain management during your labor. This one is really easy to find when a woman is sitting kind of longer yoga ball during labor or on all fours. It’s really easy to access the back. It’s a little trickier to use this point if you’re lying in bed, so just keep that in mind when you’re thinking about mobility and being in different positions while you’re laboring.

I’ll just locate that point one more time for you. You’re first going to find the hips and then you’re going to slide your thumbs inwards towards the spine and you’ll feel two depressions. You’re going to apply firm pressure towards your partner’s belly button so you’re basically pushing forward with your thumbs. You can apply pressure for 15 seconds or even the entire duration of a contraction which can be a minute long to offer pain relief. That point is helpful even before labor to help with cervical dilation and labor induction as well.

Alright, so the next point we’re going to do is the large intestine 4. Found on your hand, you may have used this point in the past for things like headaches. It’s really easy to find. You’re actually going to take your thumb and you’re going to press it up against the rest of your hand. You’re going to see this little mountain form so this point is basically at the peak of that mountain. You take your other thumb just press right into it and press as hard as you can. Until it kind of hurts good, is that the way I described it. It’s supposed to feel achy, it’s going to feel achy that’s how you know you’re doing it right.

This point is for labor induction, effective contractions, and pain relief as well this one’s really easy for a mom to be doing during the entirety of her labor her hands are free. If you can be doing this one on your own on yourself, mom, you should be doing it as often as possible you can. Alternate sides so you do one side hold for 15 seconds, the other side hold for 15 seconds, and you can go back and forward as frequently as you want. It’s going to ache that means it’s working.

The last point is spleen 6, it’s located on your leg about four finger breadths up from your ankle bone on the inner aspect of your leg. I’m just going to demonstrate that to you. You’re going to find your ankle bone and this point is four finger breadths up from there. Right in a nice depression off of your tibia bone. Again, that’s on the inner aspect of your leg four-finger breadths up from the inner ankle bone. Into the depression, kind of a muscly soft depression as you roll off of your tibia or your leg bone.

That point is also for labor induction, cervical dilation, pain relief, and effective strong contractions. I really love using that point, especially during labor if the contractions slowed down, and sometimes that can happen it. That happens especially with the epidural so it’s really easy for your partner to find that point on your legs to sit at the foot of the bed if you are in bed with an epidural. To be applying pressure 15 seconds release, 15 seconds release, and he can be doing that for as long as possible