Can our bodies remember???

[kakies]

A friend of mine was telling me how her doula suggested that she get treated w/ acupuncture in order to better her chances of having a successfull vbac.

She told my friend that since her body didn't get to complete it's 'job', so to speak, on laboring and delivering a baby that it might have registered that and will do the same this time around. In other words, since her body was only allowed to do some of the job before submitting it to a c-section, then when she trys to labor this time it might just shut down at a certain point as if it were waiting for the dr to intervien and take over in order for the baby to be born, kwim?

Could this be posible? And can acupuncture erase that memory?

[JanetF]

I have seen women whose bodies remember certain "sticking" points in dilation but with the right emotional support before labour and during as well, they move through it and birth beautifully. Basically we are designed to birth so no, I don't believe your friend's body would somehow stop knowing how to do that any more than women who've been induced would somehow "not know" how to labour spontaneously. People have forgotten that we are built to birth and that powerful forces take over when we birth - if we create a supportive environment, preferably without surgeons present. I'd be doubtful of a doula that believes this.

[witchbaby]

my midwife was concerned that's what was happening to me-- i got stuck at 2-2.5 cm for 24 hours, the exact dilation when i was taken in for my c-section. i wish i had prepared myself better for that emotional trauma.

[NCjen]

I would say it is our emotions more likely than our bodies that are holding us back at that same point. for me it is one cm I am looking to get past. I think that anything you can try while pregnant to help you FEEL like you are getting rid of that past negativity couldn't hurt. I would say that your friends doula is suggesting it for that reason, not because she thinks her body won't work on it's own. A lot of people like to feel like they have tried everything to accomplish their goal, and if accupuncture is a stop they want to take I say why not!