Pregnant woman's pulse

In the past, when there were no Western medical testing methods, Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis was usually used to check whether a woman was pregnant. The pulse of a pregnant woman beats more frequently than that of a normal person. In traditional Chinese medicine theory, the pulse after pregnancy is called a slippery pulse, and the pulse feels like beads sliding on your fingers. However, slippery pulse is not necessarily a sign of pregnancy, so Chinese medicine practitioners also need to use observation, smelling, questioning and palpation to comprehensively determine whether the patient is pregnant.

How is the pulse of a pregnant woman different from that of a normal person?

Most people have a normal resting pulse rate of 60 to 100 beats per minute. Pregnant women's pulse rate usually increases by 10 to 15 beats per minute.

What will the pulse of a pregnant woman look like?

The qualitative, positional and quantitative diagnosis of pulse refers to first determining the floating, sinking, slowness and number of pulses, the left and right inch, guan and chi, and then determining the nature of the pulse. When taking a pulse, the positions of Cun, Guan and Chi must be accurate. First, determine Guan. The point before Guan is Cun and the point after Guan is Chi. The pulse of a normal person is called a "flat pulse", which means that there are pulses in the three parts of Cun, Guan and Chi, with regular rhythm, coming and going calmly and slowly, and being full and powerful. Generally speaking, women's pulse is slightly weaker than men's. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "Men are based on Qi, while women are based on blood." Modern medical research has also proved that pulse is related to cardiac output. The cardiac output of men and women is different, so the pulse patterns are also different. The pulse of a woman during pregnancy usually appears around the 6th week of pregnancy. The pulse becomes smooth and strong or slippery and rapid, and the radial pulse is continuous when pressed.

Traditionally, Chinese medicine practitioners have used pulse diagnosis to determine whether or not you are pregnant. The slippery pulse that appears after you become pregnant is one of the important bases used by Chinese medicine to check whether you are pregnant. The book "Pregnancy and Childbirth Heart Method" written by Yan Chunxi of the Qing Dynasty pointed out: "When a woman is pregnant, her blood stays and her qi gathers, and the uterus is full, so the Chi Yin pulse must be slippery and rapid."

How to take pulse to detect pregnancy

1. The pulse of pregnancy is slippery.

“A slippery pulse means that the pulse flows smoothly and should be round and smooth, like beads rolling on a jade plate.” When taking the pulse, if it is a slippery pulse, it will be like a row of bubbles, or a small iron bead passing through the person's ring finger, middle finger and index finger in turn, at a fast speed, one after another. The slippery pulse is beating strongly. After pregnancy, the blood flow in the pregnant woman's body increases by more than 20% than usual, so the pulse beats stronger than that of ordinary people. This is the most obvious difference. Therefore, the pulse of pregnancy is usually slippery.

2. Slippery pulse does not necessarily mean pregnancy.

In addition to being a possible indicator of pregnancy, slippery pulse may also occur in normal conditions or certain diseases, so it does not necessarily mean pregnancy. Young and middle-aged people are full of vigor and vitality, and may also have slippery pulse.

Traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis of pregnancy cannot rely solely on taking the pulse, but requires the coordination of "observation, auscultation, questioning and palpation", as well as the condition of the person being diagnosed, such as whether or not there has been menstruation, the time of menstruation and other physical conditions.

3. How to take pulse during pregnancy/slippery pulse.

It feels smooth and round when pressed, just like pressing a ball. "According to the above method, place the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger on the Cun, Guan, and Chi parts of the person's pulse. The place where the ring finger is pressed is the "Cun", the middle finger is the "Guan", and the index finger is the "Chi". The Cun and Chi here imply that the "Cun" is closest to the palm and the "Chi" is the farthest.

If you are pregnant, the ring finger, middle finger and index finger can clearly feel the pulse beating happily, and the pulse beats from "Cun" to "Chi" in sequence like flowing clouds and water. If you are not pregnant, the pulse of "Chi" cannot usually be felt.

To put it simply: if you are pregnant, your ring finger, middle finger and index finger can all clearly feel the cheerful beating of the pulse. If one of the three fingers cannot feel the beating, it means you are not pregnant.