Pregnancy acupuncture is safe

Pregnancy acupuncture is exceptionally safe

If you’re considering acupuncture to support your pregnancy, you may be wondering about its safety. Well, rest assured! When done correctly by an acupuncturists with adequate expertise pregnancy acupuncture is exceptionally safe.

Unlike common medications for pregnancy conditions such as anxiety, insomnia, prenatal depression (see antidepressants), back pain, pelvic pain, headaches, and others that may lead to permanent harm to a developing baby, acupuncture is considered very safe. In fact, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis concluded that it is one of the safest treatments in medicine, with serious side effects being rare and the most common adverse events being very mild.

And when it comes to pregnancy acupuncture specifically, the safety record is stellar. 

A study of 20799 pregnant women conducted in South Korea found that pregnancy acupuncture not only prevented stillbirths, but also reduced the number of preterm deliveries. Women who had acupuncture all delivered alive babies. Sadly, there were seven stillbirths in the group that didn’t have this time-proven therapy.

In another study from South Korea have adverse events from acupuncture during pregnancy were found to be very mild and transient, with serious adverse events being very rare.

The most common adverse events

In 1000 pregnancy patients only 13 will experience a mild adverse event, such as mild pain and tiny bleeding at the needle sites. Those side effects did not last, stopped shortly after the treatment and women when about their lives as normal. Even more rarely, a tiny bruise may occur, but it is normally not painful and will go away on its own.

Pregnancy acupuncture is safe when practiced by an expert

It’s important to seek out an acupuncturist who is well-educated, trained, and experienced in providing acupuncture during pregnancy to ensure your safety and that of your baby. A study in 2009, concluded just  that: “Acupuncture treatment is safe if the practitioners are well educated, trained, and experienced.”

Is acupuncture safe during the first trimester of pregnancy?

Some women are worried that acupuncture in early pregnancy may cause the miscarriage, a study in Australia not only showed it was safe during the first trimester, in fact, women who had this natural therapy had effectively halved their risk of miscarriages (5% compared to the Australian average of 11%). 

Conclusion

To sum it up, acupuncture is safe, and during pregnancy when done correctly by an expert acupuncturist, no matter in which trimester you receive the treatment.

So, if you’re interested in pregnancy acupuncture, you need to make sure you seek an acupuncturist with specialised training and a wealth of obstetric experience.

Here are some conclusions from various acupuncture safety studies:

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2010:
“Acupuncture is inherently safe in the hands of well trained practitioners.”

Yamashita, 2000, Japan:
“Although any adverse reactions associated with acupuncture were common even in standard practice, they were transient and mild.”

White, 2001, UK:
“All AEs were mild and no serious AE occurred.”

Jimin Park, 2013, Korea:
Acupuncture during pregnancy appears to be associated with a few AEs when correctly applied.

You may also be interested to learn about fertility and IVF acupuncture, which can also be safe and beneficial under the right circumstances.

 

Pregnancy depression acupuncture

Depression during pregnancy and Acupuncture

Acupuncture for pregnancy depression

Acupuncture for depression is a subject we keep coming back to our blog. Now a new and largest study to date published in Obstetrics & Gynaecology confirms acupuncture to be effective for antenatal or pregnancy depression. There are good reasons why, for the benefit of developing babies, acupuncture becomes a mainstream therapy for this condition.

1 in 7 pregnant women may suffer the baby blues

Pregnancy depression is more common than previously thought. Now an influential body of US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all women during pregnancy are screened for the condition affecting health not only of the mother but also of the developing baby.

Why antidepressants is such a bad idea during pregnancy?

Since 2008 NZ Medsafe has been warning that SSRI antidepressant use in pregnancy may increase the risk of congenital abnormalities and that in later stages of pregnancy can lead to neonatal complications indicative of a withdrawal syndrome, and to persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn; and that doctors need to discuss this with their patients.
Some antidepressants were considered to be relatively safe not so long ago, but there is more and more evidence confirming that any kind of antidepressants may temporarily or permanently harm the developing foetus. The March 2010 issue of Pediatrics reports that antidepressants may permanently or reversibly affect fetal brain development.

Why you shouldn’t delay and address pregnancy depression as soon as it is diagnosed

Prenatal blues and stress can lead to adverse effects on the baby.

Pregnancy depression and stress can lead to adverse effects on the baby. Acupuncture is a safe, effective treatment against the baby blues.

  • Many thousands of preterm births could be prevented if women diagnosed with the condition receive treatment during pregnancy.
  •  Antenatal depression and stress increase cortisol levels; this may lead to babies, who are born small and possibly smaller brains in proportion to their bodies.
  • Babies born to mothers with this debilitating condition have a blunted stress response, which may mean it is harder for them to react to stressful situations.
  • Antenatal stress can alter the structure of her offspring’s brain, particularly regions vital for emotional development.
  • Antenatal depression has a long-term effect on the child. Children born to stressed mothers have shown abnormally high cortisol levels at age 10.

The bottom line? Depression during pregnancy may harm the developing foetus and so can antidepressants. Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for antenatal and postnatal depression. If you are pregnant and suspect that you may be suffering from depression, discuss this with your obstetrician, midwife or GP and get in touch with us today.

Acupuncture helps diabetes by improving memory. It can be helfpul in pregnancy.

Acupuncture improves memory impaired by diabetes

Electro-acupuncture restores learning and memory impairment induced by both diabetes mellitus and cerebral ischemia in rats, conclude researchers from Beijing.

Previous studies have shown electro-acupuncture can improve peripheral neuropathy and diabetic encephalopathy. If you are suffering from diabetes, acupuncture is a word to remember.

Recent studies have shown maternal diabetes to be linked to infant memory problems. Currently there are no studies to show that acupuncture will reduce the risk for the baby. Considering the possible benefit and minimal side effects, obstetricians and midwives should consider discussing pregnancy acupuncture with their gestational diabetes patients.

The study was conducted by scientists from China Academy of Chinese Medical Science in Beijing.