Acupuncture can Aid the Success of IVF

Acupuncture isn’t accepted by everybody as medicine, but according to the latest findings, it can improve the chances of having successful IVF cycles. However, having acupuncture along with IVF is a personal decision and all women should decide for themselves.

Acupuncture can Aid the Success of IVF

Good results vs. bad results

In case of fertility clinics that had high baseline pregnancy rates acupuncture didn’t seem to have any positive effect. Nonetheless, in case of the fertility clinics with lower baseline pregnancy rates adding acupuncture increased the IVF success rates. This way we can say that there is a direct link between the baseline pregnancy rate and the success rate of acupuncture.

The trials

The researchers admit that the results varied from one region to the other. For example, the results in Europe were poorer than the results in the U.S. even with the addition of acupuncture. This is partly because more and more European IVF clinics are shifting towards single embryo implantation.

Differences in results

The specialists also took into consideration that in case of the fertility clinics where the baseline pregnancy rate was already high which means that the added value of using alternative medicine such as acupuncture most certainly cannot have drastic effects.

Low baseline pregnancy rates

Although recent studies show that it might be beneficial to add acupuncture sessions in case of low baseline pregnancy rate fertility clinics, there is need for more extensive researches. In this case we also have to consider the cost-effectiveness and safety of the procedure.

Acupuncture vs. cost

We all know that acupuncture is safe even during pregnancy. However, at this point there is no available information regarding the cost-effectiveness of the procedure. The specialists have to study whether the added value is big enough considering the extra costs.

Available information

At the moment acupuncture is the most commonly used adjuvant procedure in case of IVF in the U.S. It is known that the success of the procedure also depends on the moment of administration. Specialists claim that the chances of getting pregnant and keeping the baby increase if acupuncture is performed during the embryonic stages.

Future parents and realistic statistics

It is just natural that not all parents agree with acupuncture and some of them prefer opting for traditional medicine instead of alternative solutions, claiming that they cannot be certain of the outcomes of the procedure. However, after a few cycles of IVF parents usually agree trying new methods as well, thinking that they did something wrong during the previous cycles.