I'm writing this with great disappointment because when I first started seeing Dr. Miao at TCM, I…read morewas very pleased with the care and experience I received. The office staff is very polite and pleasant, too. My doula highly recommended them to help induce labor because my husband and I were set on having a home birth and hoped to avoid reaching 42 weeks and needing to give birth in a hospital.
We saw her three times, and labor did not start, despite also trying other natural induction methods. We assumed it was because my baby and body weren't ready yet, and that it had nothing to do with the acupuncture care I was receiving.
At the time of this appointment, I was approximately 41 weeks and 3-5 days pregnant, depending on which medical professional's due date we used. Our maternal-fetal medicine specialist had told us that the baby was healthy and that the assessments--including amniotic fluid, non-stress testing, umbilical cord blood flow, and estimated weight--were all normal. Our midwife felt confident recommending additional natural induction methods and believed electroacupuncture and leave-in press tacks could be highly effective at this point in the pregnancy.
When I saw Dr. Miao, I asked for those specific treatments. She refused to do the leave-in press tacks because, in her opinion, they weren't necessary. She also kept urging me to go to the hospital for the birth because I was past my due date, even though our care plan allowed for continued monitoring and a home birth before 42 weeks.
I tried to explain that our midwife would not deliver the baby at home if I reached 42 weeks and would insist on transferring care to the hospital, as that is medical standard care for midwifery. That was already our backup plan. There is also a hospital approximately a mile from our home; all of this was accounted for in our birth plan. Also, many women that I've met during my pregnancy gave birth exactly at 42 weeks because that's when their baby was ready to come into the world.
She went on to explain that the baby was continuing to gain weight, that there wouldn't be enough space for him to move around, and that, given my size, it could be dangerous for both of us. She also said that being too big could cause health problems for him later in life; however, those statements were particularly upsetting to me. My brother was born weighing 9 pounds, and my understanding is that C-section delivered him because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, not because he was too big. He is now 34 and has no health issues. My friend's older brother was born vaginally, weighing 10 pounds, and has no known health issues in his mid-30s as well; his mother is also quite small. Though there may be evidence to support what she is saying, based on these experiences, her comments about size and future health do not mean that it will happen to my baby.
Under the plan established with our birth team, I still had approximately 2-4 days to continue trying to encourage labor naturally and deliver at home before transferring to hospital care if necessary.
I kept gently insisting on the leave-in press tacks, but she kept refusing and told me to get on the table. Part of me thought I should leave and find another acupuncturist, but I went ahead and lay on the table for the electroacupuncture treatment, which was fine. But still, the end of the session ended with her urging me to go to the hospital if I had not given birth by the end of the week, and again, this is already in our birth plan, but she would not listen to me.
However, what felt to me like fear-mongering and overstepping--when we already had specialist monitoring, a midwife overseeing our care, and a hospital backup plan--was unnecessary and left a bad taste in my mouth.
I promptly let my midwife know what had happened, and she recommended another acupuncturist in our area, who was an OB in China, and specializes in fertility, prenatal, and postnatal care. After speaking with him about what I needed and how far along I was, he said he could provide the treatments we were seeking.
My husband and I paid over $8,000 to have a home birth, so of course, we're going to follow our midwife's advice, who has over 15 years of experience overseeing prenatal care and delivering babies, and we're doing everything in our control to ensure it happens. Still, we're also very mindful that if we reach past the medical standard of 42 weeks, a hospital birth will be necessary.
It wasn't right that, as an expecting mother who had thoroughly researched and discussed with her family and birth team a detailed plan for the birth of our baby only to be filled with fear, dread, and told to get on a table, rather than receive care and support, by an acupuncturist and pay $120 for the treatment and experience. I take responsibility for not leaving immediately and finding someone else who was willing to help. It would have been better if she had politely declined my request.
