Does acupuncture support you during IVF and increase your chances of having a baby?

Does acupuncture support you during IVF and increase your chances of having a baby? The answer is YES

When you're trying to get pregnant, it can feel like the world is against you: your hormones are all over the place, your body is making you feel bloated and tired, and then there's the whole “you might not be able to get pregnant at all” thing.

A systematic review and meta-analysis published earlier this year looked at thousand of participants who had undergone IVF—and found that acupuncture significantly increased their chances of getting pregnant. Not only that, but it also reduced the risk of biochemical pregnancies by 51%!

The authors pooled 25 IVF and acupuncture RCTS of 4,757 participants. They found that acupuncture significantly increased implantation rates by 28% (6 trials, 2,017 participants) and IVF clinical pregnancy rates by 33% (25 trials, 4,757 participants). In addition to increasing CPR (contraceptive prevalence rate), having at least 4 sessions increased chances of CPR by 43%, while having less than four increased CPR by 30%.

Take home message? When you're feeling down about trying for a baby, give acupuncture a try!

Reference:

Xu, M., Zhu, M. & Zheng, C.

Effects of acupuncture on pregnancy outcomes in women undergoing in vitro fertilization: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-023-07142-1