08 Jul Acupuncture and neonates

By Juan Hahn

At the end of October 2021, after teaching a series of YNSA courses in different cities in Mexico, I had the good fortune to visit the ISSEMyM Medical Center in Ecatepec, Mexico City. It was a fascinating experience.

This public hospital offers acupuncture consultations in combination with other hospital services such as neonatology. For example, scalp acupuncture can be performed on premature babies (even at just 800 grams birth weight), and they tend to gain weight faster and nurse more effectively afterwards. Mothers who receive acupuncture also show improvement in lactation and anxiety reduction, according to a study presented at the Mexico Neonatology Congress by Dr. Patricia Urcid, head of Neonatology. Acupuncture has also been proven to help other patients, such as those on hemodialysis.

Many thanks to Dr. Consuelo García, head of acupuncture services, for her kindness and professionalism during my stay. I was very pleasantly surprised by this hospital´s advanced integrative approach.

I would also like to express my gratitude for her very warm welcome and for the gifts they gave me, one of which was a traditional obsidian axe. I have hung it on the wall of my office in Madrid alongside my other travel souvenirs.