Research

1231 IVF patient records were reviewed to assess the effect of adjuvant acupuncture and whole-systems traditional Chinese medicine (WS-TCM) on IVF outcomes such as live birth. Overall, IVF with adjuvant WS-TCM was associated with greater odds of live birth at 61%, compared with IVF alone (48%).

Acupuncture has been shown to promote natural fertility. The protocol tested influenced women who received it compared to women who used lifestyle modification alone: their fertility awareness and wellbeing increased, and those who conceived did so in half the time.

A significantly higher percentage of motile sperm was found in 28 infertile male patients with severe oligoasthenozoospermia (a high percentage of poorly swimming sperm i.e. poor motility), who received acupuncture according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

33 of 66 women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transplantation (IVF-ET), aged from 35 to 42 years received acupuncture to increase both egg quality & embryo quality. The high-quality egg rate (81.3% vs 57.6%) & high-quality embryo rate (59.8% vs 37.7%) were both higher than those in the control group.

40 women receiving two acupuncture visits for the first week of intervention, followed by a weekly visit until 12 completed weeks of gestation demonstrated a statically significant reduction with threatened miscarriage symptoms including bleeding, cramping and back pain compared with the control.

Acupuncture was shown to not only reduce nausea and dry retching, but also improve the health status of women in pregnancy. Treatment was given weekly for 4 weeks to women less than 14 weeks' pregnant with symptoms of nausea or vomiting.

Traditionally acupuncture has been used for pre-birth treatments to prepare the woman's body for birth, with an emphasis on preparing the cervix and pelvis for labour. A decrease in medical inductions and caesarean sections was apparent when compared to the overall maternity report.

67 pregnant women with fetal breech presentation were treated using acupuncture and moxibustion during and after the 34th week of pregnancy. Of these, 76.4% experienced correction of fetal breech presentation after 6 treatment sessions.

144 healthy nulliparous women in active phase were treated with acupuncture to evaluate the effect on pain and labour duration. Results demonstrated that acupuncture reduced pain experience after two hours, active phase duration and the number of oxytocin units administered.

Advanced acupuncture techniques are used with positive clinical results to build, preserve, and protect the Blood-derived. This is an essential component for creating life; in preparing for, preserving, and recovering from pregnancy. Replenishing blood postpartum further supports recovery.

116 women with deficient secretion of milk (hypogalactia, hypogalactorrhea), who received acupuncture, successfully increased breast milk secretion from an average of 49.63 ml to 115.21 ml. In addition, lactating mothers receiving acupuncture had a concomitant improvement in prolactin levels.

A meta-analysis of 14 different studies was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for PPD. Results demonstrated that 443 patients had significantly better improvements in PPD symptoms when compared to the control group.