Maternity Reflexology

Reflexology Foot Map

I haven't had the worst pregnancy, infact I would say I have got away with a lot so far **touching wood** I do of course have the normal every day aches and pains that affect lots of ladies in pregnancy so when a friend recommended giving reflexology a try, I thought why not?

My reflexologist is Sally Killingback of Sally Footworks based in Hampshire, her website describes reflexology as "a wonderful holistic therapy which complements the natural event of childbirth" Basically reflexology is an alternative therapy involving placing pressure on certain reflex points that supposedly correlate with parts of the body, your hands and your feet are a reflection of what is going on in your body.

Sally started with telling me how it all works and what she looked to achieve over the next hour and our following sessions, I told her of any particular ailments, as you all know I have suffered with leg cramps, rib pain and most recently acid reflux (Ouchy) So she said would target these areas but also look at everything else. I have to say when she targeted a specific area where I had been having trouble I certainly knew about it, it wasn’t agonising but the pressure was there for sure, however she didn’t prolong this and eased it out quickly, and would move onto a relaxing massage. Interestingly enough the rib pain I had been getting wasn’t reflected in my feet, she did however find that the pressure I have been feeling was from my diaphragm being pushed into my rib.

At the end of the session we finished with what Sally called the "Penguin feet" position, this position reflects the pelvic plates, so she would push down on my feet from this position and this is supposed to open up your pelvis, which in turn should help during delivery. Whilst she was doing this I am sure Baby C was feeling that extra room as he started moving all over the place.

O.K so there isn’t a lot of scientific evidence on this, however recently studies have been done on patients undergoing MRI scans whilst having reflexology and the MRI scan picked up extra brain activity, what this actually means, I’m not sure BUT I am willing to give anything a go that may help with childbirth and reduce the time and any drugs I may need. Sally left me with a few tips to combat the issues I have been having and they have really helped so far, maybe it’s the placebo effect but if it works, who cares? I have booked in for another appointment in a month’s time so I am really looking forward to that relaxing hour of just ‘me time’

You can find Sally’s website here; http://www.sallysfootworks.co.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/2984?opendocument&part=3

Have a read of the reviews from her clients, they are really interesting.

Have you given any alternative medicines a go whilst pregnant? Do you believe they work?