Midwives and specialists from associated professions are able to integrate a great deal of practical and background information from reflexotherapy of the feet (RTF) into their work. This includes the care given to the pregnant woman from the time after conception to the care of the mother and baby in the postpartum period. Although pregnancy is a normal biological process, an increasing number of women suffer from a multitude of complaints during this special time.

Basically, we adhere to the rule that RTF support in pregnancy, during and after the birth, is experienced as extremely pleasant and stabilizing by the pregnant woman, even if she does not have any immediate complaints. At the beginning we advise regular care via the feet (roughly once a week) from the fourth month of pregnancy onward.

Frequently though, we observe that natural life processes nowadays are complicated by all kinds of irritations and increasing difficulties, and it is obvious that pregnant women often need help. It should be noted that for the most part the dosage of individual therapeutic grips for pregnant women is only half the usual dosage, at least at the beginning, until the personal threshold for the grips offered has been experienced.

Usually we make a first assessment as part of the normal care, in particular when the pregnant woman contacts the midwife at an early stage in the pregnancy. Then RFT can be a treasured accompanying measure throughout the following months. However, if there is little remaining time until the birth, situations involving brief and acute treatment often occur.

In order to make the pregnancy easier for women, above all, between the sixth and seventh month of pregnancy, when the increasing weight of the baby results in a change in the woman’s musculoskeletal system, the following “basic formula” has proved its worth:

• Stabilizing grips before, during, and after treatment, well adapted to the present condition of the woman.

• Gentle tonifying in the zones of the lower spine, gluteal, and abdominal muscles, intestine, kidneys and bladder, lymphatic system (alternating stroking movements), and diaphragm.

• The zone of the uterus can—but need not—be omitted during the first few treatments until the woman’s general response has been reliably assessed.

The spontaneous reaction of the baby, for example, in the form of greatly increased intrauterine movements, and the behavior of the mother-to-be provide a useful indication as to whether the dosage was correctly gauged. In the event of overdose, employ stabilizing grips.

• As a result of this treatment the bony and muscular area of the pelvis is gradually and evenly expanded and stretched and the baby obtains the natural space which it needs for development and movement.

• This basic “formula” for the proposed zones can either be incorporated into a normal course of treatment or offered as a short, self-contained treatment.

• The subsequent phase of rest, of at least 20 minutes’ duration, is of special importance for pregnant women and should be consistently adhered to or even extended, according to individual requirements.

Additional Practical Advice

Highly irritated and overanxious women often have tiny drops of water spread over large areas of the inside of both heel bones (the zones of the pelvic organs) before beginning treatment.

• This indicates that they are unstable and initially need ample stabilizing grips. Specific treatment of the zones is only gradually built up in the course of a series of treatments according to the increasing stability of the autonomous nervous system.

• Every treatment session is interspersed with regularly repeated sedating grips, including in the zone of the solar plexus. Gentle, vibrant tonifying in the sense of regulation in this zone has a similar effect, in our experience.

• With these oversensitive women it has proved effective to initially treat them with their feet covered so that they do not feel directly “attacked.”

RTF treatment during pregnancy is usually greatly appreciated by most women as they experience its benefits in terms of improvement in their physical complaints and frame of mind.