I have been seeing an accupuncturing throughout my pregnancy. I think he's great. His name is Evan Rabinowitz and his number is (202) 822-4664. You can say Jenn G provided the name if you want to. He's located at 19th and I. I haven't worked with him on inducement issues, but now maybe that I'm 39 weeks with a baby estimated to already be at 8 lbs I'll think about it, too!

Best of luck to all of the posters.

I tried it. Went twice to my favorite acupuncturist in the 9 days before I was medically induced. Alas, it didn't work for me, but I heartily recommend it, as I am not a big fan of medical induction.

bump -- I'm trying both acupuncture and reflexology treatments on Friday and wondering what to expect.....

So OP, or anyone else who hasn't chimed in, did acupuncture work for you?

To 18:29 -
Thanks for answering my question about the monitoring. I'm at a high risk practice locally and they're pretty conservative (which had been great with all my problems so far -- but doesn't bode well for an intervention-free birth since it starting with an inducement unless I can make it happen first!). But I'm going to talk with them about this though because it's really important to me.

Curious to know what your doctors think of acupuncture. Personally, I am a big advocate of acupuncture and love reading posts like this. Do you get strange looks or are your doctors knowledgeable about the practice? It's great when the doctor and acupuncturist actually collaborate and work together...I wish they would do that more often.

OP - please post if you decide to try the inducement by acupuncture. I'm due on Tuesday and have an appointment with my acupuncturist on Thursday if I haven't gone into labor by then and he said that he would be able to "help" with that, but I'm not sure what that will entail!

Anonymous wrote:Can you post name/location for your acupuncturist? I'm scheduled for an induction in a month (due to medical reasons, I'll be 39 weeks at that point). I really don't want to be induced and am looking for ways to start labor before that (although not too much before that).

PP-- Can I hijack this thread for a minute?
It was my understanding that once they administer Pitocin they need to continually monitor the baby and you don't get to move around at all. Is that not right? I'm planning to do the same thing you did-- labor as long as possible before getting the epidural (although my secret hope is that I can go all the way, but we'll see...). It gives me hope that I might be able to move around and be able to deal with the contractions better.

PP here. I had a midwife who was fine with my walking around even though it upset the positioning of the fetal monitoring equipment. She would just have me stay seated for a short period of time every now and then (it was some timed interval, but I just don't recall how long the interval was) to get a good reading and then I was free to get up and move as I pleased. It did, however, highly agitate the labor and delivery nurses and the interns and residents. But my midwife had been in practice in this hospital for more than a decade and didn't take any flack from them. Basically told them to butt out. So, basically, your OB or your midwife has to been on the same page that you are about this issue. The nurses do what they say. I have very little doubt that if I had taken the epidural right away and NOT moved around like I did that I would have ended up having a c-section. But, I also have little doubt that if I had not had the epidural when I did and rested, I might also have ended in c-section. So it's a real balancing act and you have to be working closely with a care provider whom you trust.

This was all in NYC, btw. Both my acupuncture and my delivery. Which, actually, makes it all the more remarkable since NYC Hospitals have a 40% c-section rate.

Can you post name/location for your acupuncturist? I'm scheduled for an induction in a month (due to medical reasons, I'll be 39 weeks at that point). I really don't want to be induced and am looking for ways to start labor before that (although not too much before that).

PP-- Can I hijack this thread for a minute?
It was my understanding that once they administer Pitocin they need to continually monitor the baby and you don't get to move around at all. Is that not right? I'm planning to do the same thing you did-- labor as long as possible before getting the epidural (although my secret hope is that I can go all the way, but we'll see...). It gives me hope that I might be able to move around and be able to deal with the contractions better.

Acupuncture was unfortunately completely ineffective at inducing labor in my case (whereas it was a critical part of my TTC efforts). My acupuncturist said that it tends to be more helpful at speeding things up when readiness has begun already (some dilation or effacement, for instance), which was not my situation, rather than starting them off to begin with.

BTW, I was induced at 41 weeks and 3 days. I labored as long as I could on pitocin (12 hrs on cervadil, followed by 12 hours on pitocin) in order to be able to move around a lot, then had the epi and finished laboring so that I could get some rest (another 8 hrs). Ended up delivering vaginally.

There is no need to go immediately to a c-section mindset if you do not go into labor without medical assistance.

GL to you!

Accupuncture sounds pretty harmless to me, so why not give it a try? Especially since you seem to already have a relationship with an accupuncturist (sp?) so no need to research providers etc. What's the worst that can happen (other than a waste of your time)? I would definitely try things like that before getting chemically induced. In fact I started looking into all that when I went past my due date (but then went into labor at 40w2d so there was no need).

However, that aside, I also have a question that I think PP alluded to. If you don't go into labor on your own at 10d past due, why schedule a c-section without trying a chemical induction at that point? Or is there a special medical reason why you and your dr don't think you can handle pitocin? (you might not even need it. some women go into labor just from cervical ripeners). I know you shouldn't be induced if there are prior uterine surgery/scars, but it doesn't sound like that's your situation. If you have a c-section you will need some anesthesia anyway, so it's not like you can just avoid that (if that's your concern). You seem to want a natural labor/delivery, well I understand that pitocin etc isn't natural but neither is a c-section.

Anyway, good luck to you.

OP here. I generally prefer to go to acupuncture before I see a regular doctor. Acupuncture has generally relieved my ailments better than any drugs I've taken.

As far as medical induction goes, I am under the impression that one drug will lead me to another. I think I have more faith that acupuncture will be more successful for me than pitocin and an epidural. I was just wondering if anyone on this board has an experience with this particular method of induction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am now past my due date and my doctor is concerned about letting my pregnancy continue too long due numerous factors. I said I'd agree to a c-section 10+days after my due date since I just assumed that a first time baby would be 7-10 days late.

I really don't want surgery so am thinking of going to acupuncture for inducement. My acupuncturist said I'd deliver the same day if I went to him for that purpose. Does anyone have experience with acupuncture inducement?

Just curious why you would consider a c-section before attempting induction?? Only curious

sorry, I mean alternate medical forms of induction...

Anonymous wrote:I am now past my due date and my doctor is concerned about letting my pregnancy continue too long due numerous factors. I said I'd agree to a c-section 10+days after my due date since I just assumed that a first time baby would be 7-10 days late.

I really don't want surgery so am thinking of going to acupuncture for inducement. My acupuncturist said I'd deliver the same day if I went to him for that purpose. Does anyone have experience with acupuncture inducement?

Just curious why you would consider a c-section before attempting induction?? Only curious

I am now past my due date and my doctor is concerned about letting my pregnancy continue too long due numerous factors. I said I'd agree to a c-section 10+days after my due date since I just assumed that a first time baby would be 7-10 days late.

I really don't want surgery so am thinking of going to acupuncture for inducement. My acupuncturist said I'd deliver the same day if I went to him for that purpose. Does anyone have experience with acupuncture inducement?