From Distress to Delight: Acupuncture for stress management in pregnancy and childbirth

Course overview

The sympathetic (fight/ flight/ freeze) and para-sympathetic systems (rest & digest) and their relationship with the endocrine system have a role in womens cycles of menstruation, pregnancy and birth. There is a delicate juggling act performed by women; the balance between estrogen, progesterone, endorphins, oxytocin (aka the love hormone) and prolactin-adrenaline-cortisol (the stress hormones) through both bio-medical and oriental medicine concepts. It is suggested that the Shao Yang (Gallbladder and Triple Warmer) in collaboration with the Kidneys and Liver are the foundation for the balancing agents of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and the Hormonal functions. We will see how the same sets of hormones that regulate childbirth are responsible for the bonding that occurs after birth. In fact, these are the hormones that regulate a womans cycle of fertility. We reflect on a womans rhythm; the Groove, or the lack of it, in womens menstruation cycles, the three trimesters of pregnancy, the birth itself, and the precious time of mother-baby meeting and bonding after birth, and throughout their lives. While looking at both the mother and the baby we realize the importance of the in-utero life to a babys health and wellbeing. There are both positive and harmful impact of stress on a womans body and soul by observing the cycles of reacting and recovering. When unbalanced, these cycles are themselves stressors, but when balanced, they form the most beautiful connection between the woman and her world, the mother and her baby.