As part of the Children And Mothers Program (CAMP) for pregnant and postpartum women at Crossroads, clients receive weekly acupuncture sessions with a licensed acupuncturist.
Research has proven that acupuncture relieves some of the health-related issues common in pregnancy, eases the delivery process and assists with the mental, physical and emotional issues in postpartum women.
Lynn MacDonald-Webber, LAc from Life Ideals in Lewiston, Maine and the Maine Center for Acupuncture in Portland, provides acupuncture for Crossroads clients and works with other residential facilities in the area. Originally used in the 1980s at a hospital in Bronx, New York on patients coming off heroin, this protocol uses needles in five designated ear points in each auricle (outer ear). Clients sit for about an hour in a comfortable chair.
Lynn reports that, at first, clients would tell her that they didn’t notice any immediate difference after their acupuncture session. But after a while, they realized that situations that would normally cause some anxiety didn’t bother them as much. As Lynn says, she helps clients learn how to relax. She shows them what it feels like to be relaxed and to recognize the changes in how they react to other people or sleep at night.
Lynn explains this protocol is effective for women and men in addiction recovery because it helps to treat the body while also calming the patient in a non-medicated way. For pregnant and postpartum women, acupuncture can help discomfort during pregnancy, regulate the menstrual cycle and can even held induce labor naturally.
