Helix Clinic blog

In March 2009, the results of a study on acupuncture for pain relief during delivery was published in the journal Birth. The study was carried out by researchers at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial with 607 healthy women in labour. The objective of the trial was to compare the results of acupuncture with TENS (electrical stimulation) or more traditional pharmacological interventions.

The researchers found that the group of women who received acupuncture required significantly less pharmacological or invasive treatment during labour compared to the non-acupuncture groups.

The acupuncture was found not to affect the duration of labour, but the researchers did find that mean Apgar scores at 5 minutes were significantly higher among infants in the acupuncture group compared to infants in the other groups.

The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly assess the health of newborn children immediately after birth. The results of this study therefore seem to suggest that the use of acupuncture during pregnancy and particularly during labour can lead to healthier newborn babies!

Tags: Apgar, labour, newborn babies, pain, TENS