Cupping guides

Swollen feet and legs in pregnancy: why it happens, what is normal and what is not (pre-eclampsia, blood clot), what helps and light lymphatic massage with a cup

Eight in ten pregnant women get swollen feet, ankles and lower legs, mostly in the third trimester, in heat and toward the end of the day. It is due to more blood and fluid in the body, hormones that soften the vessels, and the uterus pressing on the large veins so blood from the legs has a harder time returning. It is almost always harmless, but sudden swelling of the face and hands, swelling with headache or visual disturbance, or one leg that swells more than the other and becomes warm and tender mean care the same day. Here are the causes, the warning signs, what actually helps (movement and calf pumps, elevation, left side-lying, compression stockings, water and less salt, cooling) and how to do light lymphatic massage on the legs with the hands or a cup on the lowest suction, with your midwife's go-ahead.