There are lots of stories about how Reiki has helped people during their births, I personally value evidence from lived experience at least as highly as I do empirical research. But it's also affirming to know that Reiki has been shown to be efficacious in a clinical study.

Medical research has to be funded by someone. Usually it will be funded by a pharmaceutical company or other interested party. Unfortuately, most alternative or complementary therapies don't receive this kind of funding. These therapies also don't represent a profitable solution for the medical industry so they're not well supported.

There are other challenges when it comes to quantifying the outcomes of alternative treatments. Generally speaking, alternative therapies see each person as an individual, and they will receive a bespoke treatment. These treatments can also take a long time to show change as they're supporting the body to heal itself rather than trying to alleviate symptoms.

When analysing alternative treatments, mainstream medical research tends to look at one singular treatment protocol and what outcomes it delivers across a population in a defined time period. For example, there is research about acupuncture points for specific complaints, while an acupuncturist would likely not recommend that point for everyone in the study, or would recommend a different combination of points.

This difference in approach is often underneath the inconclusivity of much research around alternative therapies.

There are several studies that have looked at Reiki as a pain management tool. These have looked at various populations and various ailments. There are some interesting studies within an obstetric setting. This study looked at the impact of Reiki on post-cesarean pain. It showed signifcant reduction in pain and a reduced use of pain medication after just 15 minutes of Reiki.

This study also showed a statistically signifcant improvement in pain and anxiety in post-Cesarean women.

In this study of women hospitalized for obstetric or gynecological problems, 92% reported an improvement in pain after a Reiki treatment and 96% an improvement in anxiety, each reduction statistically significant. All women who complained of nausea/vomiting experienced relief from it following their treatment.

Over the course of 1999-2000, Reiki was studied in a maternity setting at Hartford Hospital, CT. The outcomes of women receiving Reiki during their pregnancy were a 78% reduction in pain, 80% reduction in nausea, 86% improvement in sleep and 94% reduction in anxiety (unfortunately they no longer have these results on their website to link to).

Dr Jeri Mills, OBGYN, started using Reiki with her laboring patients and reported shorter labors with far less pharmaceutical pain relief. Her personal C-section rate dropped from 20% to 5% and she reported her patients spent fewer days in the hospital post-sugery, needed less pain medication and had faster healing incisions. I hear similar anecdotal evidence from professionals who've taken my Reiki for Birth Workers training.

Reiki carries no risks and has no side-effects. It's completely safe, and as we've seen efficacious, to use in pregnancy and labor. Everyone should experience the benefits of this gentle energy healing modality during their birthing journey. Your partner, doula or other birth support person can learn how to do it for you and help you have less anxiety and less pain in your birth,