Benefits of Acupuncture During Pregnancy

Though pregnancy is filled with much joy and excitement, it also brings with it a fair share of symptoms and side effects that may have a serious impact on your lifestyle. If you regularly use acupuncture to aid your physical and/or mental health, or if acupuncture has been suggested to you, you may be pleased to know that there are benefits to acupuncture treatments during pregnancy.

Acupuncture for Infertility
According to American Pregnancy, acupuncture can be used to treat infertility in some women, depending on the reason behind the difficulty in achieving or sustaining a pregnancy. There is some evidence to suggest that acupuncture may aid in treating infertility that arises as the result of "elevated follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), repeated pregnancy loss, unexplained (idiopathic) infertility, luteal phase defect, hyperprolactinemia (when not caused by a prolactinoma), polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) with annovulatory cycles, and male factor including men affected with sperm-DNA-fragmentation."

If you are suffering from infertility, you may want to discuss the benefits of specific treatments with your acupuncturist, as well as your health care provider.

Acupuncture for Pregnancy-Related Morning Sickness
Acupuncture has been used to treat nausea and morning sickness with considerable success. Health 911 notes that treatments by an acupuncturist, as well as acupressure wristbands, may be helpful in dealing with unwelcome morning sickness. Discussing with your acupuncturist exactly how you are feeling will help him or her treat your morning sickness with the most success.

Acupuncture for Inducing Labor
I was unaware that acupuncture could be used as a means of inducing labor until a friend noted that she had tried it. In fact, a study done by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Vienna, Austria concluded that acupuncture can help in inducing labor in patients that are at term. If you are full-term, and are simply waiting for nature to take its course, a visit to an acupuncturist could be just the push that your body needs.

Acupuncture for Mental Health/Depression/Anxiety Issues
If you are suffering from depression or anxiety during pregnancy, acupuncture may be able to help. Some women find acupuncture for mental health issues to be quite effective. This may be true antepartum and postpartum, as well as in women who are not pregnant. I sought acupuncture treatment to help deal with my depression in the months before I conceived, and was pleased with the results.

There may well be benefits to acupuncture during pregnancy, especially if you go into treatments with a clear idea of what you would like to work on. If you have concerns about holistic treatments such as acupuncture, you may want to discuss them with your doctor or midwife before beginning a treatment regimen. Also, be certain that you let your acupuncturist know if you are pregnant, suspect you might be pregnant, or are trying to conceive.

For more information on the benefits of acupuncture during pregnancy, you may want to read:

American Pregnancy; Treating Infertility with Acupuncture; http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/acupuncture.htm

Health 911; Nausea, Motion & Morning Sickness; http://www.health911.com/remedies/rem_motion.htm

National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health; Acupuncture for Cervical Ripening and Induction of Labor at Term--a Randomized, Controlled Trial; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11802511