I've seen a lot of women lately who have gone post-term in their pregnancies and are looking to acupuncture for induction. I have to admit, it is one of my secret joys to treat. Although acupuncture is not a sure-thing for bringing on labor, it works most of the time and can help prevent western medical intervention, which many women do not want. The use of Pitocin has been clinically proven to increase the risk for other medical intervention in labor, including cesarean sections, and many women today would like to avoid those interventions. Trying acupuncture before Pitocin is always worth a try.

During pregnancy, the woman's body is primarly in a state of Yin. She is holding and containing the fetus which is a Yin function. In order for a woman to have contractions and give birth, it is necessary for her Yang to rise up to take action. Yin must transform into Yang.

Unless a pregnant woman is truly on the verge of going into labor, more than one session will typically be necessary. I find that three is the most common "magic" number of treatments. Ideally, these treatments will be spaced only days apart, three days in a row if possible. There is a specific handful of points which are used to induce contractions, but additional points to help balance an individual woman's consititution may be chosen.

Aggressive stimulation of several points, including Hegu (LI-4) and Neiguan (P-6) and Taichong (Liv-3) will be necessary. Many practitioners, including myself, rely on the use of the electrical stimulation machine attached to the needles on these points. This allows the practitioner to provide continual stimulation to these points, while having his or her hands free to manually stimulate some of the other points, such as Yanglingquan (GB-34), Zusanli (St-36), Zhiyin (BL-67) also used to turn a baby in the breech position earlier in the pregnancy, Jianjing (GB-21), and any of the Bladder points situated on the sacral area, particularly BLs-30-34.

I have seen women start having regular contractions during the acupuncture session, and I have had women receive all three treatments with no success. Of course, no acupuncture treatment is a guarantee of success, but considering the minimal risks involved, I feel that it is always a worthwhile course to try.