Mother Nurture’s Four Pillars

Fertility

The notion of “being fertile” goes well beyond getting pregnant or having a baby. As women, living a fertile life means we are living with purpose, tending to our inner and outer worlds, supporting our personal growth and that of those around us, while nurturing ourselves in the name of living our best life.

For many women, their best life includes motherhood, which can sometimes waylaid with unexpected complications. Whether you are just getting started or have been confronted with fertility challenges, my approach can serve to support and optimize your fertility. I specialize in preconception support as a primary therapy or in conjunction with IUI/IVF.

Conditions that I successfully treat include:

  • Natural Conception/Conscious Conception 

  • IUI/ IVF Optimization

  • Embryo Transfers

  • Egg Freezing Preparation

  • Advanced Maternal Age/Egg Quality Optimization

  • Diminished Ovarian Reserve

  • Premature Ovarian Failure

  • Third Party Parenthood (egg, sperm and embryo donation, emotional support during adoption)

  • Male Factor Infertility/Sperm Health and Optimization

Pregnancy

Prenatal

I created Parallel Obstetric Care as a holistic health program to offer support to the mom-to-be throughout her entire pregnancy. Drawing from my 20 years of experience attending births as a doula and midwife assistant, my extensive background in prenatal bodywork, and over a decade as a perinatal acupuncture specialist, I created this holistic adjunct program to optimize a women’s health and experience throughout the dynamic phases of pregnancy.

Parallel Obstetric Care does not replace prenatal care from your OB or midwife, but rather mindfully follows a woman's progress and helps to manage any issues that may arise along the way. My goal is to help women achieve optimal health and comfort and to feel supported and fully informed about their choices during pregnancy and birth.

Parallel Obstetric care provides a framework for treatment during pregnancy. As always, each woman’s care is individualized and based on her unique needs.

First Trimester (Conception to Week 12)

Weekly acupuncture treatments to address common early pregnancy symptoms including:

  • "Morning Sickness"  (nausea and vomiting)

  • Fatigue

  • Anxiety, Depression, and Stress

  • Recurrent Pregnancy Loss/Miscarriage Recovery

  • Guidance surrounding genetic testing

  • Late first trimester “golden needle” treatment

Second Trimester (Week 13 to Week 27)  

Office visits every 2 - 4 weeks addressing:

  • Lingering digestive issues

  • Gestational Diabetes prevention and management

  • Management of pregnancy-induced hypertension

  • Musculoskeletal Discomfort (low back and hip pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc)

  • General health & wellbeing

  • Herbal medicine as needed

  • Late second trimester “golden needle” treatment

Third Trimester (Week 28 to Week 36)

Office visits every 2 weeks addressing:

  • Lingering and or newly acquired musculoskeletal pain and discomfort

  • Edema

  • Insomnia and disrupted sleep patterns

  • Group-B Strep Test Preparation

  • Breech Presentation (after 32 weeks)

  • Preterm Labor Prevention

  • Continued management of hypertension to avoid pre-eclampsia

  • General health & wellbeing

  • Herbal medicine as needed to address third-trimester issues

Birth Preparation (Week 37 to birth)

Weekly office visits to assist in the transition from pregnancy to labor by:

  • Promoting cervical ripening and dilation

  • Balancing the nervous system for labor

  • Supporting amniotic fluid levels

  • Emotional support and mentorship surrounding fears about labor and birth

  • Promoting the natural onset of labor (post-40-weeks)

  • Herbal medicine to help prepare the body for labor

Labor Support

Getting labor going can often evoke a great deal of stress as the due date approaches, especially in light of current trends pushing women towards induction and other interventions prior to 40 weeks.  Acupuncture, herbs, chiropractic care, and other hands-on modalities gently coax a woman’s body into the natural onset of labor and promote an efficient and productive labor progression.

Once a contraction pattern is established, I am available for labor support at your home, or wherever you are birthing. Please call our office for more details.  

*Onsite labor support is for existing patients only.

Postpartum

Perhaps the most underestimated aspect of childbirth are the days and weeks immediately following childbirth. While new babies take center stage, it is often lost on caregivers that another birth has also occurred, the birth of a mother.

A new mom faces many challenges that need care and support as she heals physically and emotionally from birth while simultaneously caring for a newborn; facing the challenges of feeding, sleep deprivation, hormone changes and emotional ups and downs. The adage of “mothering the mother” is never more crucial than during the first postpartum weeks, commonly referred to as the “Forth Trimester.”

Chinese Medicine has many methods for nurturing a new mother, from “mother roasting” (moxibustion), herbal compress and teas, nutritional guidance, tuina/bodywork, acupuncture, and good old-fashioned nurturing, listening and support.

I’m honored to support your postpartum journey with in-home or office visits to address anything that may arise, including:

  • General birth recovery

  • Vaginal healing

  • C-section recovery

  • “Baby blues”

  • Postpartum depression and anxiety

  • Lactation and Breastfeeding (supply, mastitis, blocked ducts, “let-down”, thrush, etc.)

  • Exhaustion

Hormone Health

Women’s bodies function in a cyclical manner. Governed by the phase of the menstrual cycle, hormones impact every single aspect of our physical and emotional wellbeing. When hormones become dysregulated, symptoms like acne, menstrual cramps, cysts, weight gain, anxiety, depression, amenorrhea, and infertility can occur. Guided by the principles of East-Asian medicine, these symptoms are viewed as the “branches” of an underlying condition, which we call “the root.” Through a variety of modalities, including herbal medicine, curated supplements, a unique-to-you nutrition plan, and strategies to support the unobstructed flow of energy in your body (like acupuncture, acupressure, gua sha, cupping, and more), this approach seeks to not only alleviate short term symptoms but to finally get to the root of it all, the key to long term resolution.