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Deepak Chopra, MD
"EFT offers great healing benefits."
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques®) Where emotional relief brings physical health
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EFT for High Blood Pressure during Pregnancy
Note: This article assumes you have a working knowledge of EFT. Newcomers can still learn from it but are advised to get our Free EFT Get Started Package or our Affordable DVDs for a more complete understanding. For more, read our EFT Info and Disclaimer Document.
Hi Everyone,
Eileen Sullivan, a doula, informs us that blood pressure problems during pregnancy can have serious consequences for the baby. She then gives an actual case where EFT is used to bring down blood pressure. Very helpful. She also talks about the many financial and other benefits of using EFT in these cases. Please consult physicians on all medical issues
Hugs, Gary
I was a doula (professional birth and postpartum assistant) and childbirth educator for over 20 years, before retiring and becoming an EFT practitioner. One of my best friends is a midwife who attends home births. She took an EFT workshop from me several years ago, and she now uses EFT with many of her clients. We'll call her "Jean."
I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Jean, helping her to integrate EFT even more fully into her busy midwifery practice. As usual, EFT worked miracles, and I wanted to share some of the results with you.
One first-time mom we worked with was Lucy. She was 7 months pregnant at the time, and having trouble with her blood pressure. She had stopped working several weeks before, but that hadn't helped.
Lucy's blood pressure had always been what Jean considers borderline-higher than normal, and something to observe closely. High blood pressure during pregnancy and/or labor can have serious consequences for both mother and baby, so midwives like Jean typically help their clients to keep blood pressure under control with holistic therapies. This can include things like nutrition, relaxation, stress reduction, acupuncture, chiropractic care, and sometimes herbal or homeopathic remedies. If holistic methods don't work, prescription medicines and conventional treatments are tried. In the worst case, a mother may be "risked out" by her midwife and, for safety considerations, be unable to birth her baby at home as she prefers.
There's a time and place for everything, of course. But in my experience, EFT as a first option will often work to quickly and effectively resolve an issue before it becomes a major risk factor. Lucy was a prime candidate for some prenatal EFT.
I first met Lucy at an EFT Basics class I taught for Jean's clients. Lucy and her partner attended, and both experienced good results with EFT during the class. By the time it ended, they were feeling great, and were very enthusiastic about using EFT during the birth of Lucy's first child.
A few days later, thanks to the recession, Lucy's partner lost his job. This left their family - Lucy, her partner, and his children from a previous relationship - without income. With the imminent arrival of their baby, this was a very vulnerable time.
When Lucy came to her next prenatal appointment with Jean, the difference in her attitude was marked. It was clear that she was stressed about her family's financial situation. Obviously, stress is not helpful when blood pressure is an issue, nor is rushing to get to an appointment. Recognizing these things, Jean spent a good half hour talking with Lucy and allowing her to settle in before taking her blood pressure. We hoped that this would give Lucy a chance to relax a bit, and that her blood pressure would respond accordingly.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Lucy's blood pressure had never been as high as it was that day. Jean and I reassured her that it was okay, we would tap on it and see what happened. Jean completed the prenatal check, and then we began to tap with Lucy for her blood pressure and stress.
Even though <partner> lost his job, and it's a really bad time to be without a job, and that's very scary...
Even though my blood pressure is high and I'm stressed out...
Even though this stress is affecting my blood pressure, I forgive myself and <partner> and everybody else that contributed to it.
Even though I'm anxious about money since <partner> lost his job, I choose to relax and trust that we will be okay.
Even though my blood pressure was high before, I can feel it coming down now that I'm more relaxed and trusting.
After about 20 minutes of tapping, Lucy seemed to be feeling much better, so Jean took her blood pressure again. It was the lowest it had ever been during Lucy's entire pregnancy. Both the systolic and the diastolic values went down 18 points. That's nearly a point per minute of EFT! Just as importantly, Lucy left the appointment feeling much more hopeful and relaxed.
On follow-up, Lucy's blood pressure has inched back up again, but to date has never reached its previous high. She reports that she is still feeling positive about her partner's ability to find another, and better, job.
Since the root issue (no income, with a baby on the way) is ongoing, Jean and I recommended that Lucy tap daily on the anxiety and stress of being in her current situation. There may also be some additional issues being triggered, which Jean and Lucy can address at subsequent prenatal appointments.
It's a great story, but there's more to it than that. Consider for a moment the therapies I mentioned above, the only holistic treatments Jean used to be able to recommend to her clients with blood pressure issues. They all cost money. Granted, they're not generally as expensive as conventional medicines and treatments. However, the cost of holistic therapies is most often not subsidized by health insurance nor are holistic therapies and medicines offered by Medicaid for pregnant women who have no health insurance. The truth is that healthier forms of care almost always cost a family more than prescription drugs and visits to mainstream medical providers.
So a health-conscious mom in Lucy's situation is often caught in a Catch-22. In order to stay healthy, she needs things she can't afford. That increases her stress, which only adds to the problem!Thank goodness EFT is different.
Now that she knows the basic tapping procedure, Lucy can control both her stress and her blood pressure for free with EFT. She can use it as often and as much as she needs to, until her family is back on its financial feet again. Lucy, her baby and her family will all reap the benefits.
Not to be political, but the government and taxpayers at large will benefit too. Keeping Lucy and her baby healthy with EFT will save Medicaid thousands of dollars - possibly even tens of thousands. The bill for hospital care when a mother and/or baby experience serious complications can be astronomical. And a child who is born with damage from a condition like maternal hypertension (which, if left untreated, can cause life-threatening obstetrical emergencies) may require special programs and government assistance for life.
I believe that EFT is an invaluable aid to keeping pregnant mothers and their babies healthy. Since we know that a child's health at birth can affect his or her health over the entire course of their lifetime, EFT can be an enormous and yet very affordable investment in our collective future.
Eileen
