Oriental therapy good for pregnant women
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By Lee Seung-hun
Pregnancy is a dramatic event for women, both emotionally and physiologically.
A pregnant woman can experience various symptoms that drastic and severe hormonal changes bring about.
Although there are treatments available for the discomfort and pain, many expectant mothers forego such options for fear that they may adversely affect their babies.
The government currently operates a voucher-type aid program for pregnant women and parents to partially subsidize the costs involved with pregnancy, childbirth and raising children.
Included in this program are Oriental treatments, meaning that the government officially recognizes the effectiveness of these, and expectant mothers can obtain financial support for them.
However, there are still many people who mainly ask about the safety of Oriental treatments such as hanyak (Oriental medication) and acupuncture.
It is natural for mothers to become more cautious about medication of any type, more so than any other treatment.
Especially, the fact that hanyak refers to a mixture of medicinal ingredients rather than a single substance can cause anxiety about Oriental medication in general.
Mothers can rest assured, knowing that all hanyak prescribed to them during pregnancy are those whose effectiveness has been proven scientifically as well as through historical use.
Also, such prescriptions and their ingredients have been tested with modern scientific methods to ensure that they are safe for both the mother and baby.
Taking hanyak medication prescribed by a licensed Oriental doctor, therefore, is safe for pregnancy.
Even acupuncture treatment which is not a substance-based medication can be a cause for concern.
However, it is quite safe as there are almost no side effects other than very slight pain and miniscule bleeding in the applied areas.
You may wonder then what symptoms that are common during pregnancy can be alleviated with Oriental treatment.
The first would be morning sickness, a common complaint from pregnant women as 70 to 85 percent of them have experienced it.
In general, the nausea and sickness begins sometime between four to seven weeks after the last menstruation, reaches a peak between the 11th and 13th week of pregnancy and disappears after the 12th to 14th week.
However, about 10% of pregnant women experience morning sickness well into their 20th week.
Oriental medicine views morning sickness to be caused by various reasons such as unclear qi invading the stomach to suppress normal functions, or the lack of blood and qi as they are consumed to nurture the baby inside.
Most pregnant women suffering from morning sickness experience immediate improvement from nausea and vomiting upon acupuncture treatment.
Recently, low frequency therapeutic equipment has been developed to stimulate meridian points that can be used in daily life to effectively regulate morning sickness.
Oriental treatments can also help for a more stable pregnancy.
Recurrent miscarriage means having three or more miscarriages in a row.
Oriental medicine views that an overall weak constitution of qi and blood, especially the weakened function of the womb and depleted function in the kidney and spleen can lead to a higher probability of a miscarriage.
Often, pregnancy is compared to sowing seeds in a field so that sprouts can grow.
In the same vein, the mother’s body ― the field ― has to be healthy for the fetus _ the seed ― to grow to be healthy.
However, today’s mothers are often subject to exhaustion, stress and excessive diet control prior to pregnancy that leads to a cold womb and reduced overall body function.
Hanyak treatments can help expectant mothers be healthier so that even those who have suffered from recurrent miscarriages can maintain a more stable pregnancy with the higher probability of proper childbirth.
Some women also experience extreme movements by the fetus that leads to a bloody discharge which sometimes is a precursor to a miscarriage.
This can also be helped with hanyak medication to stabilize the placenta.
Pregnancy related lumbar and pelvic pain, a very common symptom during pregnancy that approximately 45% of women experience can be alleviated with acupuncture treatment.
On average, Korean mothers gain between 12.5kg to 16.5kg in weight prior to delivery, which can be quite a load on the back.
There is also a hormone called relaxin that is produced from about the 5th month of pregnancy.
This hormone is supposed to relax the ligaments and joints so that during birthing the pelvis can be widened so that the baby can easily pass though the birth canal.
However, this release of relaxin can make the back and pelvis more prone to pain.
Such pain can often lead to chronic back pain even after childbirth, and thus requires appropriate treatment during pregnancy.
Acupuncture treatment for such pain has been shown to help women with only minor side-effects such as headaches and light-headedness.
Also, a breech presentation, in which a baby exits with buttocks or feet first instead of a normal head first position, can also be helped with Oriental treatments.
As a breech birth can lead to many complications, Western medicine usually opts for delivery via a Cesarean section.
In comparison, various research has shown that moxibustion can effectively correct the breech presentation, and that acupuncture in combination with moxibustion can lower the rate of Cesarean sections.
Apart from the aforementioned major pregnancy related symptoms, many others can also be helped with Oriental treatments.
Professional diagnosis and prescriptions from Oriental doctors can assist with healthy pregnancy and childbirth.
The writer practices oriental medicine at the UN Oriental Medical Clinic in Hannam-dong, Seoul.