Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Sep;15(9):854-61.
doi: 10.5812/ircmj.12984. Epub 2013 Sep 5.

Acupressure and ginger to relieve nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: a randomized study

Farzaneh Saberi  1 , Zohreh Sadat  2 , Masoumeh Abedzadeh-Kalahroudi  3 , Mahboobeh Taebi  4
Affiliations

Acupressure and ginger to relieve nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: a randomized study

Farzaneh Saberi et al. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is the most common medical condition of pregnancy, affecting up to 85% of expecting mothers. NVP can have serious adverse effects on the quality of a woman's life, social, and domestic functioning, and her general well-being. Therefore, it is very important to treat this condition.

Objectives: The effectiveness of ginger and acupressure in the treatment of NVP was compared in the present study.

Patients and methods: 159 eligible pregnant women with symptoms of mild to moderate nausea and/or vomiting before 16 weeks gestational age participated in a 7-day clinical trial. They were divided randomly into three groups: the acupressure, ginger, and control. Participants did not receive any intervention for three days and interventions were performed for the women in acupressure and ginger groups for four days. No intervention was performed for the control group. Data was collected by self-recorded symptoms according to the Rhodes index. Data was analyzed by ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square, and Fisher exact tests for quantitative and qualitative variables.

Results: There were no statistical differences in the baseline demographics between the three groups. ANOVA test showed that there were significantly differences in mean difference Rhodes index scores (vomiting, nausea, retching and total score) in the three groups (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Ginger is more effective than acupressure to relieve mild to moderate nausea and vomiting in symptomatic pregnant women in less than 16 weeks of gestational age.

Keywords: Acupressure; Ginger; Nausea; Pregnancy; Vomiting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Location of Acupressure Wristband
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Trial Profile of Recruitment and Randomization to Acupressure, Ginger or Control Groups
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Comparing the Mean Difference Rhodes Index Scores of Vomiting (A), Nausea (B), Retching (C), and Total (D) between the Three Groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Madjunkova S, Maltepe C, Koren G. The Leading Concerns of American Women with Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy Calling Motherisk NVP Helpline. Obstet Gynecol Intl. 2013;2013:7. doi: 10.1155/2013/752980. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Naeimi Rad M, Lamyian M, Heshmat R, Jaafarabadi MA, Yazdani S. A Randomized Clinical Trial of the Efficacy of KID21 Point (Youmen) Acupressure on Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2012;14(11):697–701. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.2153. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ebrahimi N, Maltepe C, Einarson A. Optimal management of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Intl J Women Health. 2010;2:241. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Verberg MF, Gillott DJ, Al-Fardan N, Grudzinskas JG. Hyperemesis gravidarum, a literature review. Hum Reprod Update. 2005;11(5):527–39. doi: 10.1093/humupd/dmi021. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wegrzyniak LJ, Repke JT, Ural SH. Treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum. Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2012;5(2):78–84. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources