Lots of pregnant ladies contact me to ask about acupuncture to promote labour, and to check whether I offer acupuncture during pregnancy, which I’m happy to say I do. Often people mention that another health professional has suggested it to them, and it is great to see a growing awareness of acupuncture in pregnancy.
How is the research going?
As in many areas of health and medicine, the evidence base does not yet give us confirmation that every kind of acupuncture that can be used in pregnancy is effective. There are all kinds of interesting individual studies out there, but while the full research picture is evolving we can’t share those with you.
It’s only when a study of the studies is conducted (called a systematic review or meta-analysis) that firmer conclusions can be drawn and we can talk about those results. I just had a quick look for this level of research evidence for acupuncture during pregnancy, for routine birth preparation, and to support you after childbirth, but didn’t find much available yet. So, we would need to say that those treatments are not currently supported by the evidence base, and their effectiveness is unproven.
Acupuncture to promote labour
However one area where there has been a study of studies, and we can talk about the conclusions, is for acupuncture to promote labour. A 2017 Cochrane review looked at this, and Cochrane studies are considered fairly robust studies.
I’m a bit puzzled because the main measure they looked at was whether acupuncture to promote labour reduced the caesarian section rate, and I would be interested in measures like whether it reduces the need for medical inductions or improves mothers’ experience of labour. But, it looks like so far we would have to say that those kind of benefits remain unsupported by the research that’s been done.
The authors’ conclusions were:
Acupuncture does not appear to reduce the need for caesarean section but may improve the cervical readiness for labour … The main limitations were limited reporting of health outcomes. Acupuncture and acupressure appear safe and the review suggests some potential benefit, however the specific timing and how many treatments remain unclear.
So, it will be great when further research is done and there will be more we can say with confidence.
Acupuncture in pregnancy
So if you would like to book in for acupuncture in pregnancy, you’ll be very welcome! Just get in touch to get started.
References
Smith CA, Armour M, Dahlen HG. Acupuncture or acupressure for induction of labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Oct 17;10(10):CD002962. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002962.pub4. PMID: 29036756; PMCID: PMC6953318.
Image by Marjon Besteman from Pixabay