Acupuncture for Postpartum Recovery

How Chinese medicine understands postpartum recovery

In Chinese medicine, pregnancy and birth use a great deal of Qi and Blood. The weeks after the birth are traditionally treated as a special time of rest, sometimes called “sitting the month”, when the aim is to rebuild what was spent and keep the body warm while it recovers.

The common patterns after birth are:

• Qi and Blood deficiency. Exhaustion, dizziness, a pale face, poor memory, dry skin and hair loss a few months on. This is the most common picture.
• Blood stasis. Cramping, a lochia (post-birth bleeding) that drags on or has clots, and fixed aches. The theory is that some Blood has not fully cleared.
• Cold. Feeling chilled, aching joints, and loose stools. Chinese medicine sees the body as open to cold after birth, which is why warm food and staying warm are traditional advice.
• Heart and Spleen deficiency. Worry, poor sleep even when the baby sleeps, palpitations and low appetite.
• Liver Qi stagnation. Irritability, tearfulness and feeling overwhelmed.

A mother who is drained needs building up, while one with lingering stasis needs things moved. The pattern decides which.

What treatment involves

Treatment runs alongside your midwife’s or doctor’s care. The first visit at the Keswick clinic includes a lot of questions about the birth, your bleeding, feeding, sleep, mood and digestion. I look at your tongue and take your pulse.

Acupuncture after birth is aimed at supporting energy and sleep, easing aches from feeding and carrying, and helping settle mood. Treatment is gentle, and you can be positioned comfortably, including on your side. I treat the whole body at every treatment, and a tight neck and shoulders from feeding are always addressed.

For a cold, depleted pattern, moxibustion can warm the lower back or belly. Chinese herbal medicine can be part of the plan: a formula written for your pattern and dispensed at the clinic, chosen with breastfeeding in mind.

Plan on 5–10 treatments to judge progress. Recovery after birth takes months, not weeks, and treatment adjusts as you do.

Between visits

• Rest whenever you can. Accept help with meals, laundry and older children.
• Eat warm, regular meals with protein, and drink plenty of water, especially if you are breastfeeding.
• Ask your doctor to check your iron and thyroid if you feel more exhausted than you expected.
• Start pelvic floor exercises when your midwife or doctor says it is safe, and ask about pelvic floor physiotherapy for leaking or heaviness.
• Set up feeding comfortably. Pillows to bring the baby up to you save your neck, back and wrists.

When to see your doctor first

Call your midwife or doctor right away, or go to emergency, if you have:

• Heavy bleeding that soaks a pad in an hour, or large clots.
• Fever, chills, or bad-smelling discharge.
• A red, hot, painful area on the breast with fever.
• Pain, swelling or redness in one leg, chest pain or shortness of breath. Call 911.
• A severe headache, vision changes or high blood pressure readings.
• Low mood lasting more than two weeks, feeling unable to cope, or anxiety that stops you sleeping even when the baby sleeps.
• Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby. Call or text 9-8-8, or call 911.