title: 'Forbidden points' in pregnancy: do they exist?
abstract: Acupuncture has been used in numerous diseases and for many types of symptoms. It has been also used for obstetric complaints, such as nausea and vomiting, insomnia and low back and girdle pain. There has long been concern that some points--called forbidden--might harm pregnancy owing to a potential abortifacient effect, but it is difficult to confirm this proposition. The small number of available publications on this topic seems to show that this is not correct. Animal research examining possible harmful effects and a systematic review would be welcome to throw some light on this question.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Federal University of São Paulo and Department of Medicine II, Service of Acupuncture, Rio Preto Medical College, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: André V Guerreiro
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Mary Uchiyama
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: João Bosco Guerreiro
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000209:etiology*; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000075202:Contraindications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy