At the peak of a contraction grip the comb in your hand on the lao gang acupressure point and along with some calm breathing, you've got this Mama! Stimulating the Lao Gong point is believed to reduce anxiety, increase the release of pain relieving endorphins, increase feelings of control, and dull the sensation of pain. To prevent injury, switch your hands regularly, remember to release in between contractions and don’t use on broken skin. In a 2019 article, she wrote that its effects are thought to be down to it acting as a distraction, acupuncture or the brain only being able to process so many sensations at once — and therefore acting as something else to feel instead of contractions.

Nursing and Midwifery Council regulations stipulate that staff must “make sure any information or advice given is evidence-based, including relating to any health and care products and services”. Whatever approach allows you to relax and cope with the pain of uterine contractions can prove useful when the time comes. This can help dull the painful sensations of labor and birth while still allowing you to feel pressure and have some movement so you can participate in pushing. The technique “distracts your brain” and helps to “cope with contractions”, the Surrey and Sussex NHS Healthcare Trust (SASH) said in a post on Instagram. It also plays a part in the gate control pain theory, nerve endings in your hand send messages to the brain and distract it away from the sensations of contractions.Here’s what experts have to say about activating pressure points during labor and how it may help you. SASH said the idea was based on “pain gate control theory, which suggests your brain can only focus on a certain number of sensations at one time”. Most birthing people find this tool most useful in active labour when their contractions are stronger, more frequent and more intense.

Milli Hill, author of The Positive Birth Book, said “more natural approaches to pain relief such as the comb” needed to be part of a wider support and care package that “gave women the very basic ingredients they need to have the best chance of a straightforward birth”. But this is a technique we have been asked about and are keen to share what local families have been telling us,' it added.

When you make a fist, one is located where the tip of your pinky finger lies, while another is where the tip of your middle finger meets your palm.

I would spend every other night in the bath (preparing for a hopeful water birth) listening to your audios, practicing being in labour (with your surge audio) listening to your positive birth stories - and all along using the (INCREDIBLE) comb - the best thing ever! The Acu-Comb harnesses the body's natural healing abilities, providing effective pain management without the need for drugs.We recommend drinking 1 cup per day from 32 - 33 weeks, and providing you don't have braxton hicks as a result, increase this to 2 cups per day from 33 - 34 weeks.