Study: Acupuncture doesn't help induce labor

Although acupuncture is promoted as a way to induce labor in women who go past their due date, a new study adds to evidence doubting its usefulness.

Researchers found that among 125 pregnant women who were past their due dates, those who were randomly assigned to undergo two acupuncture sessions were no more likely to go into labor over the next 24 hours.

Of those women, 12 percent went into labor, versus 14 percent of those who were randomly assigned to have a "sham" version of acupuncture.

The findings, reported in the obstetrics journal BJOG, add to evidence that acupuncture may not be an effective way to induce labor in "post- term" pregnancies -- those that go beyond 41 weeks.

About 5 percent to 10 percent of pregnant women have a post-term pregnancy, a delay that raises the risk of complications during labor. Because of this, doctors routinely induce labor when a pregnancy lasts beyond 41 weeks.

During standard labor induction, a doctor uses instruments to rupture the amniotic sac or stretch the cervix, or gives synthetic forms of prostaglandins or oxytocin -- hormones that normally help trigger labor. Acupuncture has been promoted as an alternative; in theory, it may work by stimulating the nervous system, which in turn could cause the uterus to contract.

And there is a need for alternatives in labor induction, said Dr. Niels Uldbjerg, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and the senior researcher on the new study.

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