Pregnancy Acupuncture: Benefits for You and Your Bump
Pregnancy acupuncture is a natural pregnancy care technique that can offer an alternative method of relief for expecting mothers. Restoring balance to your body, acupuncture may prevent and ease a wide range of symptoms in every stage of your pregnancy journey and beyond.
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a key component of Chinese medicine commonly used to treat pain. It involves the insertion of very thin needles in your skin at strategic points on your body. In Eastern medicine, acupuncture is considered to balance the flow of energy through your body. In Western medicine, many use acupuncture to stimulate and boost the body's natural pain killers, and to help regulate hormones and the body’s stress response (8). Acupuncture has also been shown to affect parasympathetic activity, the arm of the nervous system associated with rest, relaxation, digestion and tissue healing (9).
Is it safe to have acupuncture when pregnant?
Acupuncture during pregnancy is generally considered safe when done by a licensed practitioner like the acupuncturist at Canning Healthcare. Severe reactions or complications are rare, and even mild complications (like swelling at the needle insertion point) aren't long-lasting.
People at all stages of pregnancy may benefit from this treatment. Still, we advise clients to speak to their doctor about receiving acupuncture when pregnant to ensure there are no specific medical reasons for why it should be avoided.
How can acupuncture help during pregnancy?
From pain to anxiety, here are some areas in which acupuncture in pregnancy may benefit you.
Headaches and Migraines
Many women experience pregnancy-induced headaches or migraines in the first trimester, which can be triggered by greater amounts of blood, hormonal shifts and stress. Acupuncture can ease headache pain and reduce headache frequency (3) by addressing organ imbalances and leveraging acupuncture points that release your body's natural painkillers.
Even if you’re not pregnant, acupuncture has a potentially positive effect on headaches and in some cases is effective for frequent episodic or chronic tension-type headaches
Back and Pelvic Pain
Back, pelvic, and other similar aches and pains can be debilitating for many pregnant women. Pregnancy acupuncture can alleviate this pain and increase women's ability to engage in physical activities. It does this by changing the brain's and spinal cord’s processing by releasing endorphins. In one study, evidence showed that acupuncture or exercise, tailored to the stage of pregnancy, significantly reduced evening pelvic or lumbopelvic pain (13).
Sleep Problems and Insomnia
Sleep deprivation can begin long before bringing your baby home, often starting early or mid-pregnancy and worsening as the pregnancy progresses. These sleep problems can include difficulty falling asleep, waking up at night or earlier than usual, excessive dreaming and sleeping restlessly.
Pregnancy acupuncture settles the mind and promotes better sleep, and may be used to help address sleep issues related to pain or anxiety (14).
Stress and anxiety
Acupuncture helps with anxiety (17) in many ways. From a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) perspective, acupuncture aims to balance organs. From the Western perspective, acupuncture impacts the part of your brain that manages emotional health. It has been found to have “Evidence of Potential Positive Effect” for depression when used as an adjunct to antidepressants (15).
A 2018 study has also found that if you're going through IVF, you may find acupuncture helpful to manage anxiety on the day of a procedure (16).
Birth Preparation
Acupuncture has been shown to support cervical ripening (i.e. improves how the cervix responds to circulating hormones) and may shorten the time between the estimated due date and delivery (4). Your acupuncturist can also teach you (and even your partner) about which acupressure points to use during childbirth, which may help with pain management and delivery. Acupuncture for birth preparation is encouraged from 36 weeks, and in one review was associated with “fewer surgical births, required less intrapartum analgesia, fewer components of induction of labour and had a reduced length of hospital stay,” (6) however more quality research is needed.
Post Birth
Acupuncture can be useful for post-partum care, providing support to a new mum’s recovery from birth and adjustment to breastfeeding (e.g. addressing associated neck and shoulder tension). Acupuncture may also be beneficial in supporting lactation in cases of low milk supply (11).
In cases of planned or unplanned C-sections, a recent randomised controlled trial found acupuncture to be, “safe and effective in reducing pain and accelerating mobilisation of patients after cesarean delivery, “(10).
If you are experiencing pregnancy pain or other pregnancy issues, we're here to help! To find out more about how acupuncture can help you and your bump, call (08) 9455 2959 today for a free 10-minute phone consult with Jasmine, our Registered Acupuncturist in Perth here at Canning Healthcare.
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Li YX, Xiao XL, Zhong DL, et al. Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. Pain Res Manag. 2020;2020:3825617. Published 2020 Mar 23. doi:10.1155/2020/3825617 (Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews, 2020)
Rabl M, Ahner R, Bitschnau M, Zeisler H, Husslein P. Acupuncture for cervical ripening and induction of labor at term--a randomized controlled trial. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2001 Dec 17;113(23-24):942-6. PMID: 11802511.
Lokugamage AU, Eftime VAI, Porter D, Ahillan T, Ke SX. Birth preparation acupuncture for normalising birth: An analysis of NHS service routine data and proof of concept. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2020 Nov;40(8):1096-1101. doi: 10.1080/01443615.2019.1694878. Epub 2020 Jan 23. PMID: 31971456.
Cho ZH, Hwang SC, Wong EK, et al. Neural substrates, experimental evidences and functional hypothesis of acupuncture mechanisms. Acta Neurol Scand 2006;113:370–7. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.2006.00600.x
Lund I, Lundeberg T. Mechanisms of Acupuncture. Acupuncture and Related Therapies Published Online First: 2016. doi:10.1016/j.arthe.2016.12.001
Usichenko TI, Henkel BJ, Klausenitz C, et al. Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Pain Control After Cesarean Delivery: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(2):e220517. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.0517
Health CMI, AcupunctureBoosts Breast Milk Production, Published 07.2007, accessed: https://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1773-acupuncture-boosts-breast-milk-production#:~:text=Acupuncture%20restores%20normal%20breast%20milk,points%20significantly%20boosts%20lactation%20quantities.
Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Vertosick EA, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 6. Art. No.: CD001218. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001218.pub3. Accessed 05 April 2022.
Liddle SD, Pennick V. Interventions for preventing and treating low‐back and pelvic pain during pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD001139. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001139.pub4. Accessed 05 April 2022.
Yang, Xy., Yang, Nb., Huang, Ff. et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture on anxiety disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Ann Gen Psychiatry 20, 9 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-021-00327-5
Chan 2015 – SR of 13 RCTs: 1 high quality trial, 5 moderate, 7 low
The effects of acupuncture on the secondary outcomes of anxiety and quality of life for women undergoing IVF: A randomized controlled trial - Caroline A. Smith,Sheryl de Lacey,Michael Chapman,Julie Ratcliffe,Robert J. Norman,Neil P. Johnson,Paul Fahey - First published: 28 December 2018
Goyatá SL, Avelino CC, Santos SV, Souza Junior DI, Gurgel MD, Terra Fde S. Effects from acupuncture in treating anxiety: integrative review. Rev Bras Enferm. 2016 Jun;69(3):602-9. English, Portuguese. doi: 10.1590/0034-7167.2016690325i. PMID: 27355312.