IVF:Chinese and Germany study shows Acupuncture can help

Acupuncture with traditional and electrical stimulation seems to help infertility treatment.

Women who have an electro-acupuncture session as part of their infertility treatment may have a better chance of ultimately having a baby, a new clinical trial suggests.

The study by Rong Zhang of the Peking University Health Science Center, of 309 women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF), found that those who had electro-acupuncture at the time that their embryos were implanted were more likely to give birth.

Just over 37 percent had a baby (or babies), versus 21 percent of women who underwent a "sham" version of electro-acupuncture.

A third study group, where the women received an additional electro-acupuncture session the day before embryo implantation, had an even higher birth rate, at 42 percent. But that difference from the one-session group could have been a statistical fluke, researchers warn.

The findings, reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility, add to a conflicting body of evidence on whether acupuncture can boost IVF success.

In 2002, a study in Germany was the first to report that traditional needle acupuncture seemed to improve pregnancy rates in women undergoing IVF. (The study did not look at birth rates.)

...

Large-scale trials are needed before electro-acupuncture should be adopted as part of infertility treatment.