Once again that little voice in your head is piping up "Go on just one more cigarette, what's just one more going to do?" and "I'm sure a couple of glasses of wine each night won't make a difference!"…

It is a known fact that nicotine, other drugs and alcohol are not recommended during pregnancy due to the potential effects they can have on the fetus and newborn baby.

It's not so easy however, to stop a cycle that one has been used to for some time. There are many ways to ease you off a dependency, at least for those nine precious months, and we suggest you try anything that sounds good to you.

We know that Acupressure can often be a good complimentary treatment to whatever else you are doing and best of all it's free!

Acupressure is pressure most commonly applied by the index finger and the thumb to specific areas of the body called acupoints, which, when stimulated, can decrease a sensation such as pain or ease discomfort of withdrawal for example.

Here are a couple of points to try out specifically for dependency, each done for 1-2 minutes (should be an aching sensation after the first few seconds):

• Point 1 can be found in that webby bit of skin between the big toe and second toe.
• Point 2 is found four fingers’ breadth below the kneecap and slightly to the outer side of the leg.

If you can get someone else to do these to you, even better but certainly not a requirement.

Enjoy and let us know how they go or if any other acupoints have worked for you for dependency.