Acupuncture can relieve pregnancy indigestion, says study

Published on Monday 8 June 2009 22:02

ACUPUNCTURE can help relieve the symptoms of indigestion in pregnancy, research out today suggests.

A study involving 36 women found "significant improvements" among those treated with acupuncture.

Digestive disorders are one of the most frequent complaints in pregnancy, with 45 to 80 per cent of women reporting heartburn, pain or discomfort, regurgitation, belching and bloating.

Such symptoms tend to get worse as a pregnancy progresses, said researchers from Sao Paulo University in Brazil.

Their study, published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine, involved women aged 15 to 39 who were 15 to 30 weeks into their pregnancy.

All were suffering symptoms of indigestion and none had had acupuncture in the previous year

or had an underlying condition that could have caused the symptoms, and none had a history of similar problems before they fell pregnant.

On average, 12 needles were used and were left in the body for about 25 minutes per session.

The study found that average heartburn intensity fell by at least a half in 15 out of 20 (75 per cent) women receiving acupuncture compared with seven out of 16 (44 per cent ) women not receiving it.

The authors concluded: "In our cohort, acupuncture proved to exert a great influence in minimising the heartburn in pregnancy during treatment."

They called for the research to be replicated in a larger study group.