Study says acupuncture can help IVF

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Issue: 20 February 2008
Author: Matthew Clews

Acupuncture during fertility treatment may increase a woman's chances of getting pregnant by 65 per cent, a study has found.

Study says acupuncture can help IVF

Acupuncture during fertility treatment may increase a woman's chances of getting pregnant by 65 per cent, a study has found.

The US and Dutch study, published at BMJ online, looked at the effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation.

Jennie Longbottom, one of a small number of physiotherapists who uses acupuncture to treat women's fertility problems, welcomed the 'positive' findings. She told Frontline: 'We know that acupuncture has a profound effect.'

Under IVF, a woman's egg is removed, fertilised in a laboratory and then transferred back into the woman's womb.

Researchers from the universities of Maryland and Amsterdam studied what happened when acupuncture was given with the embryo transfer.

They reviewed the results from seven clinical trials, involving 1,366 women undergoing IVF.

The trials compared acupuncture, administered within one day of the embryo transfer procedure, with 'sham' acupuncture or no additional treatment. Acupuncture increased the odds of achieving pregnancy by 65 per cent.

In absolute terms, this meant there would be one extra pregnancy if 10 women undergoing IVF received acupuncture, the study found. However, the researchers said the findings should be regarded as preliminary.

Acupuncture has been used in China for centuries to try to regulate the female reproductive system.

Ms Longbottom, who chairs the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, said the benefits of acupuncture included stimulation of the body's natural hormones, and that the timing of treatment around embryo transfer was 'crucial'.

Her work in fertility treatment was reported in Frontline (4 April 2007), and she said since then her clinic had seen a big increase in inquiries.
She said: 'It would be nice if we could train a few more people for this work in women's health.'

FURTHER INFORMATION

Manheimer E et al. 'Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: systematic review and meta-analysis' (Feb 2008), www.bmj.com