Does acupuncture have a place as an adjunct treatment during pregnancy? A review of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews.
BACKGROUND
Complementary medicine has become popular throughout many Western countries and is widely used by women across all stages of their life cycle. Acupuncture is used by women during their pregnancy, and research suggests that acupuncture may be used as an adjunct to their existing conventional care. The aim of this paper was to summarize the evidence examining the effectiveness of acupuncture during pregnancy and birthing, and to discuss its role as an adjunct treatment.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic literature search using several electronic databases. We included all placebo-controlled randomized trials of parallel design, and systematic reviews that evaluated the role of acupuncture during pregnancy and birthing. A critical appraisal of clinical trials and systematic reviews was undertaken.


RESULTS
The summarized findings indicated a small but growing body of acupuncture research, with some evidence suggesting a benefit from acupuncture to treat nausea in pregnancy. Findings from the review also highlighted promising evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture to manage back and pelvic pain, acupuncture-type interventions to induce change in breech presentation, and pain relief in labor. The methodological quality of recent trials has improved, and the quality of systematic reviews was high.


CONCLUSIONS
Interest is growing in the use of acupuncture to treat some complaints during pregnancy and childbirth, and evidence is beginning to consolidate that acupuncture may assist with the management of some complaints during pregnancy. However, definitive conclusions about its effectiveness cannot be reached and further research is justified.
Smith
Caroline A
CA
Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Cochrane
Suzanne
S
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001416:Back Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D001946:Breech Presentation / Q000517:prevention & control; D020070:Cervical Ripening; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine; D048949:Labor Pain / Q000628:therapy; D007751:Labor, Induced / Q000379:methods; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D009325:Nausea / Q000517:prevention & control; D018579:Patient Selection; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D012449:Safety; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic