An analysis of seven clinical trials in which acupuncture was used to support embryo transfer during IVF, has concluded that it improves rates of both pregnancy and live birth. American and Dutch researchers analysed results from the trials, which were all published since 2002, carried out in four western countries and included 1366 women.
They compared acupuncture given within one day of embryo transfer, with sham acupuncture and with no acupuncture at all. Women who received true acupuncture were 65% more likely to have a successful embryo transfer, and 91% more likely to have a live birth. This means that if ten women undergoing IVF, were also given acupuncture, then one additional pregnancy would result.
(Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 6 March 2008.)
Please see Robin’s comment above.
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.
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