A new study of pregnant women in the ob/gyn journal shows that acupuncture can speed labor in most women. Although the women probably did not deliver the baby any sooner than they otherwise would have, it dramatically reduced the active phase of labor for most women in the group. This could translate to significant pain relief or less pain altogether for a laboring woman. The following quote is derived from the medical journal Acta Obstretricia et Gynecologica, 2006;85:1348-53:
In a study of 100 pregnant women who were about to give birth, 48 were given acupuncture while the remainder had standard care. Those given acupuncture had an average active phase of 4.4 hours compared with 6.1 hours in the standard-care group. Delivery time was marginally better in the acupuncture group – 29.1 hours compared with 32.7 hours in the standard-care group – but researchers felt it was too slight to be significant.
For many women, this could mean the difference between asking for pain relieving drugs or an epidural, and delivering naturally without drugs. It could also have a positive effect on the stronger contractions of an augmented labor.
Researchers felt that this finding was too slight to be significant, but this blogger has been in labor twice and finds that this could possibly be highly significant for many women. Receiving acupuncture during labor could very well mean the difference between getting small, low-invasive needles to reduce pain or a large, highly invasive needle into the spinal cavity. Personally, I see a very distinct advantage to the former.
Coupled with other forms of labor pain relief, acupuncture could most likely prove to be very helpful. Perhaps if a woman isn’t comfortable with the idea it could be a last effort for her before resorting to an epidural.
Reports have also made clear the advantages of acupuncture throughout pregnancy, in order to relieve low-back pain. The reports made sure to specify that individual results will vary, and that the acupuncture session need be designed to tailor the individual pregnant woman.
Detailed reports of these acupuncture-related studies can be found at PubMed.
How would you feel about getting acupuncture during pregnancy?
Read these articles for more information of alternative pain relief methods during labor:
Let’s Talk About Reflexology During Pregnancy
Let’s Talk About Touch During Labor
The Let’s Talk Pregnancy Blog Top Ten: How to Induce Labor Naturally
The Let’s Talk Pregnancy Blog Top Ten: How to Induce Labor Naturally
Let’s Talk About Water Birth: Fluid Pain Relief