Use of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine during Pregnancy
The use of complementary medicine is on the rise across the nation; even pregnant women are using alternative means of treating their ailments while growing their young. Different cultures have their own means of self-medicating during times of sickness and pregnancy as they consider other forms of alternative remedies as a way to treat with natural medicine. A plethora of recent research is currently in progress, expanding and unraveling the methods of complementary medicine, revealing its use and efficacy as a complement to Western medicine. Understanding this new knowledge will aid health care workers in their plight to unveil the practices that can be beneficial to each person and ultimately the unborn children that are arriving too soon, consequently, increasing their risk of infant mortality rates. African Americans have the highest rates of both infant mortality and preterm labor in America and yet, there has been very little present in literature about African American women’s use of …show more content…
The Cochrane review supports the use of many of these techniques to reduce pain in labor, acupressure, acupuncture, yoga, and relaxation techniques (Babbar et al., 2016). Additionally, the American Congress of Obstetrician and Gynecologists (ACOG) Clinical Updates in Women’s Health Care booklet titled Complementary and Alternative Medicine, has derived numerous CAM therapies to provide better health care to pregnant women (Babbar et al., 2016). With the new awareness and studies present, strategies need to be in place to foster and raise awareness to health care providers so they feel comfortable talking about complementary treatments with pregnant moms. Too many providers are avoiding the discussion altogether, which ultimately sends patients looking for treatment elsewhere as a risk to their unborn
The use of complementary medicine is on the rise across the nation; even pregnant women are using alternative means of treating their ailments while growing their young. Different cultures have their own means of self-medicating during times of sickness and pregnancy as they consider other forms of alternative remedies as a way to treat with natural medicine. A plethora of recent research is currently in progress, expanding and unraveling the methods of complementary medicine, revealing its use and efficacy as a complement to Western medicine. Understanding this new knowledge will aid health care workers in their plight to unveil the practices that can be beneficial to each person and ultimately the unborn children that are arriving too soon, consequently, increasing their risk of infant mortality rates. African Americans have the highest rates of both infant mortality and preterm labor in America and yet, there has been very little present in literature about African American women’s use of …show more content…
The Cochrane review supports the use of many of these techniques to reduce pain in labor, acupressure, acupuncture, yoga, and relaxation techniques (Babbar et al., 2016). Additionally, the American Congress of Obstetrician and Gynecologists (ACOG) Clinical Updates in Women’s Health Care booklet titled Complementary and Alternative Medicine, has derived numerous CAM therapies to provide better health care to pregnant women (Babbar et al., 2016). With the new awareness and studies present, strategies need to be in place to foster and raise awareness to health care providers so they feel comfortable talking about complementary treatments with pregnant moms. Too many providers are avoiding the discussion altogether, which ultimately sends patients looking for treatment elsewhere as a risk to their unborn