First of all, if you are pregnant, congratulations. You have made it past the “thin pink line”, which is an enormous step. Remember too that pregnancy is a normal physiological state, however, that said it is common for women to have more issues when pregnant than when they were not, due to the hormonal changes, increase in blood, as well as physical and mechanical changes. It can be a worrying time, with limited options available from Western Medicine and a reluctance for Western Medicine to “treat” pregnant women unless their symptoms are very severe. The good news is that you don’t have to suffer. Acupuncture offers a safe, effective and drug-free approach that works with your body and mind.

There is no greater privilege than treating a pregnancy mum-to-be with Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine as the baby is also the patient and also benefits. Anecdotally, patients who have regular treatment throughout their pregnancy compared to a previous pregnancy where they haven’t received Acupuncture, report fewer pregnancy symptoms, positive birth experiences, fewer interventions, calmer babies and better breastfeeding.

Why One Acupuncture

Alison had regular Acupuncture throughout all but one of her pregnancies and knows that it really supported her through serious medical complications. She sees her positive experience repeated now in her own clinic and with the mums and their babies she has helped throughout their pregnancies.

Alison’s commitment to working with pregnant women led her to train as a Doula with Michel Odent, one of the world’s leading experts [http://www.midwiferytoday.com/bio/default.asp?name=odent]. She has attended many births as both a Doula and Acupuncturist and counts these as some of the most incredible experiences. Time constraints means she regrettably no longer offers this service, but she still offers her knowledge and experience to her patients, especially for those undertaking Pre-Birth Preparation. [link to section below]

As part of her commitment to increase awareness and improve clinical practice, Alison created and is Chair of ACT Berkshire, a regional network of Traditional Acupuncture professionals with special interest and post-graduate training in Fertility & Pregnancy. [http://www.actberks.org.uk/alison-savory.html]. Representing ACT, Alison and her colleagues have provided professional training to midwives at a local hospital on Acupuncture in Pregnancy. ACT seeks to foster closer ties with Health Professionals in this area.

Alison takes a complete health history, makes observations and creates your individual East Asian Medicine-based diagnosis which is the foundation of your treatment at One Acupuncture®. She integrates any information you have from a Western perspective, including understanding your Western “label” if any, results of Western blood and other tests. She advises you to bring your NHS maternity notes to every appointment.

This is always an important question, never more so when you are carrying a child. In general terms, Acupuncture has been proven to be safe, with lower and less severe side-effects than conventional medicine. Specifically for pregnancy, approximately 72,000 Acupuncture patients were investigated in two separate studies in 2001 and 2003 and the results were published in the British Medical Journal. There were only a handful of minor and transient side effects recorded. In a meta-analysis published in 2015 by Clarkson, 17 clinical studies were investigated and this confirmed that any side-effects were largely minor and comparable to non-acupuncture treatments.