Labour pain

Labour pain is unlike most pain people meet in ordinary life. It comes in waves that follow the contractions of the womb: each one builds, peaks and fades, and there is usually a pause before the next. Early on it may feel like strong period cramps or a dull ache low in the back. As the neck of the womb opens, the contractions grow longer, stronger and closer together, and many people feel heavy pressure deep in the pelvis and the lower back.

This pain is a sign of work rather than injury, yet it can still be exhausting, and fear, tiredness and tension can make each wave feel harder than the last. That is why every birth tradition has built comfort around the person in labour: a trusted companion, warmth, movement, water, slow breathing and touch. Hospitals and birth centres today offer a whole ladder of relief, from breathing and changes of position through to gas and air and epidurals, and a partner’s steady hands sit comfortably on its lowest rung.

One framing note before anything else. This page is only about the time after labour has begun at full term, which means 37 weeks of pregnancy or later. It is not about the months of pregnancy before that, and it is never about trying to bring labour on. Everything below assumes the midwife or obstetric team knows about the plan and has agreed to it.

Classical Chinese medicine discussed hard and slow births under the heading of stalled labour, 滯產, a birth that drags on long after it has begun. Teaching texts split it into two broad patterns. In one, qi and blood are weak: the contractions are faint, the mother is pale, tired and short of breath, and the birth simply lacks force. In the other, qi stagnates and blood is held back: the pain in the belly and lower back is severe, the mother is frightened and tense, the chest feels tight and nausea comes and goes. That second picture reads much like a hard, anxious labour.

For the stagnant pattern, the textbook pairs hegu (LI4), the source point of the hand’s yangming channel, with sanyinjiao (SP6), where three yin channels of the leg meet, saying that together they move qi and blood and clear the hold-up; it adds duyin, an extra point beneath the second toe. For the weak pattern it chooses zusanli, sanyinjiao, fuliu and zhiyin to build strength instead. The site’s catalogue records difficult labour among the classical indications of sanyinjiao, and pain of the limbs and internal organs among those of hegu.

These are the very points tradition warns against throughout pregnancy, and for the same reason: they were believed to stir the womb. The China Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion, in a public note on inducing labour, calls hegu and sanyinjiao the main points physicians have used since ancient times. Bringing labour on is a clinical procedure carried out by the obstetric team, never self-care, and this page does not use the points that way.

Sanyinjiao (SP6), whose name means “three yin meeting”, sits on the inner side of the lower leg, four finger-widths above the tip of the inner anklebone and just behind the inner edge of the shin bone. A partner can lay four fingers flat across the leg with the little finger resting on top of the anklebone; the point lies just above the index finger, tucked in behind the bone. It is often tender, which helps in finding it.

Hegu (LI4), “joining valley”, sits on the back of the hand in the fleshy mound between the thumb and index finger. Bring the thumb against the side of the index finger and the mound rises; the point lies at its highest spot, close to the middle of the index finger’s long hand bone. Either hand works, and many partners simply alternate, or use the hand that is easiest to reach in whatever position labour has settled into.

Neither point needs pinpoint accuracy; a spot that answers firm pressure with a dull, spreading ache is close enough. Late pregnancy often brings swollen ankles and varicose veins on the lower leg, so skip any swollen, broken or varicose skin and move to the hand instead. It helps to learn where both points lie from a diagram, or with your midwife at an antenatal visit, and to save the pressing itself for labour.

Begin only once labour is established at 37 weeks or later and the midwife or obstetric team have agreed. Let the person in labour choose the position: leaning forward over the bed, kneeling against a birth ball, sitting upright or lying on one side. The partner sits or kneels where a lower leg or a hand is easy to reach without twisting, with clean hands, short nails and a little warmth in the fingers.

As a contraction starts to build, press sanyinjiao (SP6) with the pad of the thumb, firm but never sharp, and hold it steadily through the wave while both of you breathe slowly. Release gently as the contraction fades, and simply rest in the gap before the next one. Switch legs every few contractions. Then move to hegu (LI4) and keep the same rhythm: press as the wave rises, ease off as it ebbs. A few rounds, then a break, is plenty; there is no need to press every contraction of a long labour.

The person in labour is in charge throughout. Ask briefly, more or less, and stop at once if she says so or if the pressing distracts or irritates rather than helps. Pressing never replaces monitoring, and it sits alongside, not instead of, any other pain relief she chooses, including an epidural. If anything listed in the section on calling the maternity unit appears, stop pressing and tell the midwife straight away.

On the Chinese side, the correspondence-university textbook of acupuncture edited by Liu Guanjun names hegu, sanyinjiao, zhiyin and duyin in its chapter on stalled labour, but it needles them, and its aim is to help a slow birth along rather than to ease pain as such. The China Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion’s note on induction likewise describes needles, electrical stimulation and moxibustion carried out by clinicians. The China Maternal and Child Health Association’s guideline on normal birth encourages non-drug ways of easing labour pain, among them companionship, breathing, massage, warmth, water, nerve stimulation and acupuncture, but it names no points.

The research on hand pressure is more direct. A Cochrane review by Smith and colleagues gathered trials of acupuncture and acupressure in labour. Compared with sham pressing, the review could not say whether acupressure lowers pain. Compared with a combined control group, acupressure probably eases pain slightly, a finding drawn from two trials, and against sham pressing fewer women went on to a caesarean birth. A review by Raana and Fan found that hegu and sanyinjiao were the points trials used most, with lower pain in the active and transition phases of the first stage.

A 2026 review by Deniz and colleagues pooled studies of hegu pressing alone and found lower pain, with the clearest effects when pressure was applied during contractions and repeated over several sessions; the methods varied widely from study to study. All of this research pressed points by hand during labour itself, which matches the routine on this page, while the Chinese texts describe needling by trained practitioners. Taken together, reviews suggest that pressing these points during labour may ease pain a little.

Some signs in late pregnancy or labour mean stop pressing, stop waiting and contact the maternity unit now. Call at once for any bleeding; waters that are green or brown; a baby moving less than usual; a fever or feeling hot and shivery; severe pain that stays constant and does not ease between contractions; a headache together with blurred vision, flashing lights or sudden swelling of the face or hands; or simply any concern at all. Phone even if you were recently told to stay at home, and let the midwife decide what happens next.

Contractions or a gush of fluid before 37 weeks may mean labour is starting early, and that needs the maternity unit straight away; these points stay out of the picture entirely. Waters breaking without contractions is also a reason to call. Self-care is a companion to maternity care, never a substitute for it, and no pressing routine should ever delay a phone call. Persistent symptoms belong with a licensed practitioner — Western medicine or East Asian medicine, whichever suits the complaint.

This page is written for a particular moment: a pregnancy at full term, labour that has started on its own or under the obstetric team’s care, and a birth partner looking for something useful to do with their hands. For that couple, with the midwife’s agreement, two well-documented points and a calm rhythm of pressing and resting can be a small, practical way of sharing the work.

It is not for anyone before 37 weeks, for anyone hoping to bring labour on, or for a pregnancy with complications unless the obstetric team has specifically agreed. For the rest of pregnancy, tradition keeps sanyinjiao (SP6) and hegu (LI4) off the list, and the catalogue pages for both points carry that caution. When in doubt, ask the midwife first; the points can always wait.

Why are these points avoided in pregnancy but used here?

For the same reason in both cases. Tradition held that sanyinjiao (SP6) and hegu (LI4) stir the womb, so it kept them away from pregnant women for months and reached for them only when birth was already under way. This page keeps both halves of that rule: no pressing at all before term, and pressing only once labour has truly started at 37 weeks or later, with your midwife or obstetric team in agreement.

Can I press these points to bring labour on when I am overdue?

No. Starting labour is a medical decision with real risks for parent and baby, and it belongs to the obstetric team, who will weigh the timing, the baby’s position and its wellbeing before choosing a method. Pressing points at home to hurry things along is not a substitute for that conversation. If you are past your due date, talk with your midwife about the plan and leave these points alone until labour has begun.

Who should do the pressing?

Usually the birth partner, because a person deep in labour has little attention to spare and both points are easy for someone else to reach. Hegu (LI4) on the hand can be pressed by the labouring person too, between other things, if that feels right. Either way, agree it with the midwife first, and let the person in labour decide moment by moment whether it continues.

Can acupressure replace an epidural or other pain relief?

No. Hand pressure is a comfort measure that sits alongside the full range of maternity pain relief, not in place of any of it. You can use it early on and still choose gas and air, an injection or an epidural later, and nobody should feel they have failed by asking for more help. Tell the team what you are doing so they can fit it around monitoring and care.

What if my midwife would rather I did not use it?

Then leave it. Your midwife or obstetrician knows your pregnancy, your labour and any complications in a way this page cannot, and their judgement comes first. There are plenty of other hands-on comforts a partner can offer instead: a warm pack on the lower back, slow stroking, counter-pressure over the sacrum, help changing position, and steady encouragement through each wave.

1. 01WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region (2008) — landmark descriptions followed for sanyinjiao (SP6) and hegu (LI4).
2. 02A Manual of Acupuncture (Deadman, Al-Khafaji & Baker) — point categories, name glosses, and general childbirth framing consulted for context.
3. 03aijiu-mpvue (MIT License), licensed dataset — recorded indications and pregnancy cautions underlying the two point identities.
4. 04Liu Guanjun (ed.), Acupuncture-Moxibustion (Zhenjiuxue), vol. 3 of 3 (Higher TCM Correspondence Textbooks, Guangming TCM Correspondence University), chapter on stalled labour — https://www.gmzyjx.com/books/zjx/zjx-zjx2.3-0.0.8.0.0/
5. 05China Association of Acupuncture-Moxibustion, public note on acupuncture for inducing labour (2007) — https://www.caam.cn/article/758
6. 06China Maternal and Child Health Association, Midwives Branch, clinical practice guideline for normal birth in China (2018) — https://www.cmcha.org/detail/15264445802990710660.html
7. 07Smith CA et al., acupuncture or acupressure for pain management during labour, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2020) — https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009232.pub2
8. 08Raana HN, Fan XN, acupressure for pain during the first stage of labour: systematic review and meta-analysis, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice (2020) — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101126
9. 09Deniz D et al., intervention parameters of LI4 acupressure for labor pain: systematic review and meta-analysis, Explore (2026) — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2026.103453