Acupressure is a part of the ancient practice of traditional Chinese medicine that utilizes the same points as acupuncture on the 12 principal meridians of the body to correct the imbalance of Qi.
Valerie likes to use acupressure techniques to help with problems like sinus congestion or nausea during pregnancy. There are also acupressure and reflexology points that are not recommended to be activated during pregnancy until the pregnant woman has been cleared for labor. At that point, Valerie likes to include acupressure and reflexology as part of her labor preparation massage routine.
Note: Though acupressure and reflexology may help the body in labor preparation, there is no evidence that Valerie is aware of that shows acupressure will actually induce labor.
Reference Articles/Studies
- Piyush Mehta,a Vishwas Dhapte,b Shivajirao Kadam,c and Vividha Dhapted, Contemporary acupressure therapy: Adroit cure for painless recovery of therapeutic ailments, J Tradit Complement Med. 2017 Apr; 7(2): 251–263. Published online 2016 Jul 22.
- Caroline A Smith,corresponding author Mike Armour, Hannah G Dahlen, and Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group, Acupuncture or acupressure for induction of labour, Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Oct; 2017(10): CD002962. Published online 2017
