Acupuncture Assists with IVF Success

Acupuncture in Exeter for IVF: acupuncture assists with IVF success Acupuncture assists with IVF success, as measured by pregnancy rates, in women with unexplained infertility. In a trial run by Ataturk University, Turkey, researchers randomly allocated 72 women, mean age 31, to either either an acupuncture or a no-treatment control group. The acupuncture group were given three treatment sessions, one week prior to embryo transfer, 30 minutes before transfer, and a final one 30 minutes after transfer.

Compared with the control group, the acupuncture group displayed a significantly higher clinical pregnancy rate (64% versus 33%), ongoing pregnancy rate (56% versus 31%) and live birth rate (53% versus 40%). Acupuncture also significantly reduced anxiety before transfer.

In their paper, the team discuss how acupuncture’s regulatory effect on the hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis may influence ovulation, ovarian blood flow and uterine blood flow. Acupuncture may help implantation of the embryo via reduced uterine motility.

(Effectiveness of acupuncture on pregnancy success rates for women undergoing in vitro fertilization: A randomized controlled trial. Taiwan Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, March 2020.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.