Mother Warming Treatment

This is a traditional Chinese technique to help recovery following childbirth and to begin to restore the mother’s energy. And the best news of all is that it does not actually involve needles! With the mother warming technique, a stick of a herb called Moxa is used to lightly warm some points on the abdomen until the area feels pleasantly warm.

Moxa is a dried herb called mugwort. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that moxa has a beneficial influence on the body and can facilitate circulation, which aids healing.

The mother warming treatment can give relief and aid healing to any tender areas and help tone the uterus.

The mother warming treatment should be carried out 4 – 5 days after giving birth. Ideally, acupuncture treatment is also given once a week commencing from 2 weeks post-partum for a total of 3 weeks to promote stamina and an efficient recovery.

Acupuncturists always try to look beyond treatments such as the mother warming technique to consider the importance of lifestyle. Traditional Chinese medicine places great importance on adequate rest after childbirth. For at least one month, the mother should get as much rest as possible, and even though they may feel fine at the time, unfortunate side-effects, such as exhaustion, may be experienced months later if they take too much on too quickly.