Therapies for Managing the Common Hormonal Conditions in Pregnancy

Therapies for Managing the Common Hormonal Conditions in Pregnancy

MORNING SICKNESS

1. Add 2-3 drops of ginger or spearmint oil on a tissue and inhale.
2. Ginger Root (250mg capsules 4 x a day
3. Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, 25mg two or three x a day)
4. Raspberry Leaf Tea:The following guidelines on consuming raspberry leaf during pregnancy have been taken from Parsons (1999):
   • Tablets – Take two 300mg or 400mg tablets with each meal (three times a day) from 32 weeks.
   • Teabags – 1st trimester- one cup per day -2nd trimester – two cups per day -3rd trimester – up to 4 to 5 teabag cups throughout the day.
   • Loose leaf tea – Bring one cup of water to the boil. Remove from heat and add one teaspoon of the herb. Stir, cover and let sit for ten minutes (do not boil the herb), strain and sip. Adding sugar or honey many improve the taste. 2 to 3 cups per day is often recommended especially after 28 weeks of pregnancy.

5. Acupuncture and acupressure; The effectiveness of Acupuncture to treat morning sickness has been recognised in the western medical arena. With clinical research finding Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for morning sickness (Smith et al. 2002). For women suffering with morning sickness, Acupuncture provides a safe, effective solution that can improve the experience of early pregnancy. Acupuncture is recognised by most private health funds.

BACKACHE:

1. Regular exercise in the form of swimming or walking.
2. Massage
3. Acupuncture
4. Pilates/yoga
5. Chiropractic/Osteopathic treatments:Chiropractic care is focused on supporting and sustaining health by maintaining the integrity of the structure (primarily the spine, and pelvis) and function (the nervous system) of the body through chiropractic adjustments and a pro-active healthy lifestyle Doctors of chiropractic can help prevent difficult births and help reduce caesarean rates by reducing intrauterine constraint. Chiropractic adjustments remove muscular-skeletal causes of intrauterine constraint giving adequate room for baby to move and grow.

OEDEMA:

1.Put 4-6 drops of one of the following oils in a foot or hand bath

**sweet orange, geranium, grapefruit, and soak**

CONSTIPATION:

1. Eat a high-fibre diet that contains lots of wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread and fruit and vegetables. This will provide you with roughage to aid your digestion. You should also drink plenty of water. Pregnant women need about an extra litre of fluid every day.
2. Practising yoga positions can keep constipation at bay, and Pilates is particularly effective. These exercises tone your inner tummy muscles, which help to keep your bowels moving.
3. Avoid spicy, rich, fatty and fried foods, and anything else that triggers your symptoms. Sugar, tea and coffee may also make your heartburn worse. Eating small meals often, rather than large meals that are hours apart, will prevent your stomach from becoming too full and pushing up under your diaphragm.
4. Try to eat a healthy diet, including foods that contain: magnesium, such as dates and figs, sweetcorn, green vegetables and apples calcium, such as dairy produce, green leafy vegetables, sunflower seeds, salmon, and dried beans and pulses. vitamin C, such as oranges, mandarins and grapefruit, rocket, leafy greens, potatoes and tomatoes.

You’ll have to pay for an acupuncture session, but you could try acupressure for yourself. Press the acupuncture point on your wrist (pericardium point 6) to try to relieve your symptoms. To locate pericardium, point 6:

• Use one hand on the inside of your opposite wrist, measuring up three finger widths from the crease between your hand and arm.
• At the point where your third finger is, lift the pressure off until you’re just touching the skin, and feel lightly for a slight dip. Press into this dip quite deeply and it will feel bruised.
• When your heartburn is severe, press this point on each wrist between 20 and 30 times at one-second intervals.

INDIGESTION

1. Dilute 1 drop of spearmint essential oil in 1 teaspoon of sweet almond oil and massage it into the abdomen in a clockwise direction.
2. Aromatherapy Try adding four drops of lemon, orange or neroli (orange blossom) essential oils to a teaspoonful of grapeseed base oil. Massage this into your chest and upper back, or put the blend in your bath so you can inhale the vapours.

CRAMPS

1. Try not to become to tired and drink plenty of water.
2. A warm bath before bed will aid your circulation and ease any stiff muscles. Or you could use a warm hot water bottle, or a compress made from a tea towel soaked in warm water. Wring out the excess water and wrap it around the affected area.
3. Stretch your calf muscles several times a day by going up on tiptoes and then down again. This is also a good exercise to try before you go to bed.
4. Try massaging the areas where you get cramp with aromatherapy oils such as lavender or chamomile.

BREATHLESSNESS

1. Try to eat iron-rich foods, such as red meat, eggs and dark green vegetables. Eating foods that are high in vitamin C, such as oranges, grapefruits, strawberries and kiwis, helps your body absorb iron from your food.
2. Towards the end of your pregnancy, aim to spend 10 minutes every day taking deep breaths and exhaling, to help your lungs to inflate as fully as possible.
3. Yoga and meditation.

THRUSH

1. If you develop thrush, you could try dabbing some live yoghurt onto your vaginal area. You could also try taking probiotic supplements. Although the evidence is limited as to the effectiveness of live yoghurt or probiotics for treating thrush, some women find them helpful.
2. Try to stay as healthy as possible, to avoid infections that may need treating with antibiotics.
3. Garlic may be effective in dealing with thrush and other vaginal infections. Use whole, peeled cloves of garlic in your cooking. Keeping them whole reduces the garlicky after-taste and smell.
4. Tea tree essential oil can help to combat thrush, but may also cause irritation. Use no more than one or two drops of the oil in your bath. If you notice other signs of irritation, such as itching or redness, stop using the oil and wash your vaginal area with clean, lukewarm water.

FATIGUE

1. Bach flower remedies such as olive and hornbeam may help you cope with your tiredness. Although there’s no good evidence that Bach flower remedies are effective, many women enjoy using them.

DEPRESSION

1. Acupuncture: Published in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 2010, the trial encompassed 150 pregnant women between 12 and 30 weeks’ gestation, diagnosed with major depressive disorders. Of these women, 52 were randomised to acupuncture specific for depression, 49 to control acupuncture, and 49 to massage. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was used to score women before commencement of the trial and at completion. Treatments lasting approximately 25 minutes were provided two times per week for the first four weeks, and weekly thereafter for four more weeks.

Acupuncture specific for depression was tailored individually, according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, to address each participant’s depression-related patterns of disharmony. To ensure the reliability of results, providers were instructed to minimise verbal communication, refrain from providing counselling or advice, and avoid playing background music during the sessions. Participants in the group receiving acupuncture specific for depression experienced a significantly greater reduction in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores than the participants in the combined control interventions.