Prenatal & Post-Partum Care
Prenatal & Post-Partum Care
Pregnancy and the Post-Partum period can be challenging for many women, both physically and emotionally. Integrative therapies can help support you during this time. Different therapeutic modalities are like different languages that your body speaks – the key is to find the right language (or combination of languages) that your body will listen to. At Stepping Stone Acupuncture & Wellness, we offer many services that can benefit patients during pregnancy and the post-partum period, either as stand-alone therapies or in combination with one another. When it comes to hands-on medicine, we find that the whole is often greater than the sum of the parts.
Abdominal Therapy is founded on the ancient Maya therapy of abdominal massage, including pelvic assessment, treatment, and correction. Through specialized external massage techniques, your Abdominal Therapist guides your organs, soft tissue, and skeletal structure back into their optimal position, allowing for improved flow of energy, blood, and lymph through the abdomen and pelvis. By helping create better alignment and positioning of the reproductive organs during pregnancy, Abdominal Therapy can both make you more comfortable, as well as increase the likelihood of an easier labor and delivery. Post-partum, Abdominal Therapy can help you recover from the birth process more quickly.
Acupuncture involves the insertion of single-use, sterile, solid needles into specific acupuncture points on the body to reduce tension and pain, overcome disease, and rebalance the body. Your acupuncturist will work with you to understand your unique presentation. Additional Chinese Medicine methods such as moxibustion heat therapy may be included in acupuncture sessions, when appropriate. Acupuncture can balance hormones, reduce pain and inflammation, support immune function, and change how the nervous system perceives and responds to stress. Post-partum, acupuncture can aid in the recovery process as well as help support milk production, energy levels, and hormonal balance.
Prenatal & Therapeutic Massage:
Prenatal Massage is an excellent way of reducing tension and pain in the back, hips, legs, and neck during pregnancy, as well as prepare the body for labor and delivery. In the post-partum period, Therapeutic Massage – which incorporates Swedish massage, myofascial release, deep tissue, and sports massage techniques – works to reduce muscle tension and pain and improve circulation.
Chinese Herbal Medicine works on the same principles as acupuncture. Herbs are taken in a formula of 2-20 herbs working together to move stagnation in the reproductive system, balance hormones, and boost your body’s natural resources. Herbs are prescribed in pills, teas, tinctures, powders, or raw herbs to decoct at home. Certain herbs are safe to take during pregnancy and breast-feeding and can be a great source of support for your body.
A Health Coach is a supportive mentor and wellness guide, who can help you to identify nutritional and lifestyle changes that can improve your overall health and wellness, help to balance hormone levels, improve energy, optimize the functioning of your reproductive system, and help you nourish yourself in the challenging post-partum months.
Integrative Physical Therapy is a unique approach to orthopedic physical therapy, specializing in the evaluation and treatment of neuromuscular dysfunction, issues, and injury. After a thorough evaluation, your physical therapist will come up with an individualized treatment plan that utilizes corrective exercise, manual therapy techniques, and a wide array of holistic modalities. During pregnancy, physical therapy can help identify the cause of any pains or discomforts, and teach you tools to use to mitigate those discomforts in ways that are completely safe for mom and baby. In the year after giving birth, physical therapy can help realign the pelvis to reduce post-partum pain and aid in a faster recovery and return to pre-pregnancy activity levels.