Great Ways to Help Your Cervix Dilate

By Julie Ingham

If you want an easier way to accomplish labor and delivery, you may be surprised to know that acupressure is one of the easiest ways to help your cervix dilate. A measurement of eight centimeters is usually the point at which the final stages of labor begin. Getting to that point can take days or even weeks. Birth is a natural process, so if you want to avoid the use of drugs, acupressure should be an option you consider for easing the process.

Acupressure a precise art. Studies shows that using it correctly gives labor times that are measurably shorter than those incurred by labor without treatment. In controlled studies, birth often occurs as much as two or three days earlier than the time without acupressure. The measurement for the test is the cervix length and the diameter recorded for the dilation.

Three spots are known to aid in producing cervix dilation: Hegu, Ciliao and Sanyinujiao. Acupressure has been shown to be just as safe as labor without acupressure. Direct stimulation of the cervix in order to speed up dilation can risk infection.

The Sanyinjiao SP-6 spot is located about four finger-widths above the ankle bone on the inside of a woman's leg. Manual pressure is helpful to soften the cervix and prepare the birth canal more quickly. Bi-lateral treatment is preferred. The process is to use a sixty-second pressure on either leg and pressure on the opposite leg twenty to thirty minutes later.

Another effective acupressure spot for cervix dilation is the Hegu LI-4. This is a spot located on the area just below the bone at the widest part of the hand. It is on the base of the index finger, where the thumb joint would touch the side of the index finger. Either hand works as well as the other. Treatment should proceed by pressing on both hands rather than just one.

The benefits of acupressure as one of the ways to help your cervix dilate are multiple. The labor is likely to be shorter. Statistically, several hours less in the labor stage is reported. The woman can reach Hegu LI-4 sites herself; Sanyinjiao SP-6 and Ciliao BL32 spots are pressed by the birth partner during the labor phase. There are no injections of drugs to induce labor, so the baby gets a better start in life. Acupressure is the preferred way to control the length of time and the discomfort of labor and delivery.

Research has been conducted and is showing that over eighty percent of pregnant women who use acupressure to induce labor experience a normal labor with less complications than other women that do not use the techniques. Did you know that it can also shorten the amount of time one is in labor?

Want to learn how to use acupressure? It's easy and anyone can learn it. Check out these easy to learn acupressure techniques: http://www.squidoo.com/acupressure-to-inducelabor.

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