Retention of the afterbirth

Failure of the afterbirth to be discharged within half an hour after birth; attributable to major qì vacuity. This was traditionally treated by introducing the hand into the womb and following the umbilical cord to its end to locate the placenta, which was then detached from the uterus. This was followed by medicinal therapy and/or acupuncture.

Biomedical correspondence: retained placenta; incarcerated placenta.

Medicinal therapy: Use Perfect Major Supplementation Decoction (十全大补汤 shí quán dà bǔ tāng).

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on CV, GB, LI, SP, BL, and empirical points. Select CV-3 (Central Pole, 中极 zhōng jí), GB-21 (Shoulder Well, 肩井 jiān jǐng), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), SP-6 (Three Yīn Intersection, 三阴交 sān yīn jiāo), BL-60 (Kunlun Mountains, 昆仑 kūn lún); needle with even supplementation and drainage or with drainage. Moxa Solitary Yīn (独阴 dú yīn). For pronounced vacuity cold, pole CV-6 (Sea of Qì, 气海 qì hǎi) and CV-4 (Pass Head, 关元 guān yuán).