2013 is not quite over yet – but here are the initial results from all women trying to conceive using acupuncture in the past 24 months. As well as acupuncture, patients were given advice on diet, lifestyle and over the counter herbal preparations. Please take notice of the inclusion criteria for each group. The most common reasons for women not being included in the statistics are;
i) Not having regular acupuncture sessions over 6 months (defined at the initial consultation as being between 2-3 sessions per month depending on the individual case).
ii) Not keeping in touch – so outcomes are currently unknown
GROUP 1 – Natural Fertility with Women aged 35 and under. Patients must not have used Clomid or undergone IVF with 3 months of commencing acupuncture. Women getting a positive pregnancy test during or within 6 weeks of their last appointment were included. All patients committed to regular sessions for at least 6 months. Several women have been included twice (due to initial miscarriage and then restarting acupuncture).
83% of women had a positive pregnancy test
Of these women 20% suffered early miscarriage before 12 weeks, (all women who experienced miscarriage recommenced acupuncture and are either currently in their 2nd or 3rd trimester OR are starting another 6 month course of acupuncture).
GROUP 2 – Natural Fertility with Women aged 36 and over. Patients must not have used Clomid or undergone IVF with 3 months of commencing acupuncture. Women getting a positive pregnancy test during or within 6 weeks of their last appointment were included. All patients committed to regular sessions for at least 6 months.
67% of women had a positive pregnancy test
Of these women 25% suffered early miscarriage before 12 weeks – all were over 44 years of age.
GROUP 3 – IVF Support for Women aged 35 and under. For patients having acupuncture for more than one round in this time frame the most recent is included. A positive test is defined as one that is present at least 4 weeks after embryo transfer. To be included in the IVF category patients must have seen me as their primary complementary therapist.
80% got a positive pregnancy test
All women in this group started acupuncture at least 4 weeks before any IVF medication. There were no reported incident of miscarriage in this group.
20% did not get a positive pregnancy test
None of the women in this group started acupuncture before the IVF medication
Group 4 – IVF Support for Women aged 36 and over. For patients having acupuncture for more than one round in this time frame the most recent is included. A positive test is defined as one that is present at least 4 weeks after embryo transfer. To be included in the IVF category patients must have seen me as their primary complementary therapist.
89% of women got a positive pregnancy test
All of these women had started acupuncture at least 4 weeks before the IVF medication. The miscarriage rate in this group was 13% (all before 12 weeks).
11% of women did not have a positive pregnancy test after 4 weeks.
All of these women also had started acupuncture at least 4 weeks before the IVF medication.
Group 5 – Pregnancy rates within The Norwich Natural Fertility Partnership. To be included in these statistics couples must commit to 12 months of regular appointments. Couples not included in these statistics are those that failed to keep to their given schedule and did not continue past the first block.
Couples whereby the woman is 35 and under – 100% pregnancy rate with no reported miscarriages (includes cases with both male and female fertility issues).
Couples whereby the woman is 36 and over – 100% pregnancy rate with no reported miscarriages (includes cases with both male and female fertility issues).
Currently the longest time it has taken for a couple to achieve pregnancy from the initial start date is 10 months.
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