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
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Jun 12:15:180.
doi: 10.1186/s12906-015-0708-2.

Acupuncture with manual and electrical stimulation for labour pain: a two month follow up of recollection of pain and birth experience

Linda Vixner  1   2 , Lena B Mårtensson  3 , Erica Schytt  4   5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Acupuncture with manual and electrical stimulation for labour pain: a two month follow up of recollection of pain and birth experience

Linda Vixner et al. BMC Complement Altern Med. .

Abstract

Background: In a previous randomised controlled trial we showed that acupuncture with a combination of manual- and electrical stimulation (EA) did not affect the level of pain, as compared with acupuncture with manual stimulation (MA) and standard care (SC), but reduced the need for other forms of pain relief, including epidural analgesia. To dismiss an under-treatment of pain in the trial, we did a long-term follow up on the recollection of labour pain and the birth experience comparing acupuncture with manual stimulation, acupuncture with combined electrical and manual stimulation with standard care. Our hypothesis was that despite the lower frequency of use of other pain relief, women who had received EA would make similar retrospective assessments of labour pain and the birth experience 2 months after birth as women who received standard care (SC) or acupuncture with manual stimulation (MA).

Methods: Secondary analyses of data collected for a randomised controlled trial conducted at two delivery wards in Sweden. A total of 303 nulliparous women with normal pregnancies were randomised to: 40 min of MA or EA, or SC without acupuncture. Questionnaires were administered the day after partus and 2 months later.

Results: Two months postpartum, the mean recalled pain on the visual analogue scale (SC: 70.1, MA: 69.3 and EA: 68.7) did not differ between the groups (SC vs MA: adjusted mean difference 0.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.3 to 7.9 and SC vs EA: mean difference 1.3 CI 95% -5.5 to 8.1). Positive birth experience (SC: 54.3%, MA: 64.6% and EA: 61.0%) did not differ between the groups (SC vs MA: adjusted Odds Ratio [OR] 1.8, CI 95% 0.9 to 3.7 and SC vs EA: OR 1.4 CI 95% 0.7 to 2.6).

Conclusions: Despite the lower use of other pain relief, women who received acupuncture with the combination of manual and electrical stimulation during labour made the same retrospective assessments of labour pain and birth experience 2 months postpartum as those who received acupuncture with manual stimulation or standard care.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01197950.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of the study participants. MA = Manual acupuncture. EA = Electro-acupuncture. SC = Standard Care. ITT = Intention to treat
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. White A, Cummings M, Filshie J. An introduction to Western medical acupuncture. 1. Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier Limited: Edingburgh; 2008.
    1. Cho S, Lee H, Ernst E. Acupuncture for pain relief in labour: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 2010;117(8):907–20. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2010.02570.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Smith CA, Collins CT, Crowther CA, Levett KM. Acupuncture or acupressure for pain management in labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD009232. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009232. - PubMed
    1. Hantoushzadeh S, Alhusseini N, Lebaschi A. The effects of acupuncture during labour on nulliparous women: a randomised controlled trial. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2007;47(1):26–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-828X.2006.00674.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Skilnand E, Fossen D, Heiberg E. Acupuncture in the management of pain in labor. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2002;81(10):943–8. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0412.2002.811008.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data