Tag: acupressure

Birth Basics – A Toronto AcuBirthing Intern’s Experience

birth basics team

By Sara Hodgkinson, R.Ac., TAB Intern

One of the things I truly love about Chinese Medicine is its capacity to surprise me.  No matter how much I study, practice, read and learn there is always a goldmine of new and heretofore unknown applications for this nuanced practice.  This rings especially true with me after attending Claudia Citkovitz’s lecture on the applications of Chinese Medicine in labour and delivery.  From setting the energy in the birthing room to kickstarting labour, Claudia covered the multifarious ways that the presence of an acupuncturist can benefit the event of birth.

Claudia’s enthusiasm and infectious good humour are so illustrative of the more modern outlook on birth and pregnancy which has been (slowly) developing in the West over the past few decades; less disease, more empowering force of nature.  It was amazing to get a taste of the encyclopedic knowledge she possesses, from personal anecdotes to Western medical procedures and interventions, even the energetic properties of drugs commonly used in birth and labour (‘Pitocin is just yang in a bag’ was a favourite quote!), as well as how to practice birthing massage and other hands on techniques. What resonated most with me was Claudia’s discussion on the issues typically experienced by various TCM constitutions during birth.  Seeing how a Yang deficient person’s experience may differ from a Yin deficient person’s was a great tool, especially when provided with contraction charts as a visual support.  Understanding how these presentations may differ and the problems which tend to be associated with each constitution is a powerful tool to have on the birthing ward as it gives us, to a certain degree, some foreshadowing of what issues may arise and how we can help to circumvent them or, at least, lessen their impact.

Assessing the Western drugs often used in induction and pain relief from a TCM viewpoint was also very useful, as, once again, it gives us some foresight into how a Yin vs a Yang deficient patient will react when induced with Pitocin, for example.

With both the empirical and anecdotal evidence presented, Claudia stressed the fertile potential (pun intended) of TCM theory and acupuncture within the scope of practice of birth professionals.  Indeed, Claudia’s own career is testament to how useful the presence of an acupuncturist can be at a birth.

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Sara Hodgkinson is an Intern with Toronto AcuBirthing and a newly Registered Acupuncturist with the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario.

Birth Basics: Acupuncture and Acupressure in Labour & Delivery

Toronto AcuBirthing is pleased to announce that training with Claudia Citkovitz, L.Ac. will be available in Toronto this coming November! This seminar is available to all health professionals with training in Traditional East Asian Medicine.
Sign up before August 1st for early bird pricing!!

ACU in L&D Flyer copy
ACU in L&D Flyer

Claudia REGISTRATION Nov 2015 – Final


Acupuncture/Acupressure for L&D w/ Claudia Citkovitz – Nov 7-8




Toronto AcuBirthing Launch at the Yoga Conference

We are so excited about having launched our services this month! We began our promotional and public education efforts at the Toronto Yoga Conference, April 10-12. We saw many familiar faces and met other birth professionals and colleagues (including doulas, chiropractors, naturopaths, yoga instructors, and shiatsu therapists). It is truly heart-warming to know that there are so many therapists from unique backgrounds who are interested in supporting women during their pregnancy and beyond.

Most importantly, we met many moms, dads and parents-to-be who were so excited about our services. We can’t even count how many times someone asked,  “Where were you when I had my baby?” The positive response to our work was simply overwhelming. Many thanks to all who visited our booth and supported Toronto AcuBirthing during our launch at the Yoga Conference.

Toronto AcuBirthing is a new service that is being offered to pregnant, labouring and postpartum women in Toronto. We are a unique service that offers support through the use of acupuncture and acupressure techniques during labour and delivery to help ease your transition from pregnancy to motherhood. We are on call 24/7. Research indicates that acupuncture and acupressure treatment during labour and delivery encourage a more timely and efficient labour, and a reduction in medical interventions.

Let us know if there are specific pregnancy and labour topics that you’d like to hear more about so we can devote future blogs to topics that interest you.

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