Presenters at the recent Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting , held in Chicago, IL, unveiled findings that show that acupuncture may be an effective treatment for depression during pregnancy.
Dr. Schyner, an author of the study stated, “Depression during pregnancy is an issue of concern because it has negative effects on the mother and the baby as well as the rest of the family.”
While the rates of depression in pregnant women are comparable to rates seen among similarly aged non-pregnant women and among women during the postpartum period, there are fewer treatment studies of depression during pregnancy than during the postpartum period.
Anti-depressant during pregnancy affects the mother and the developing baby.
The 150 study participants with Major Depressive Disorder were randomly placed in one of three groups: one that received acupuncture specific depression treatment; one that received control acupuncture-they received acupuncture that was not specific for depression and the last received massage.
The mothers received 12 sessions during an eight week period. Junior acupuncturists unaware of the treatment group assignment needled participants at points prescribed by senior acupuncturists. The mother’s symptoms of depression were rated at the beginning, after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment.
The women in the acupuncture specific treatment experienced much greater decrease in the severity of their symptoms compared to both control groups or the non-specific acupuncture group alone. They also had a higher response rate thant the combined controls or the control acupuncture alone. The reduction of symptoms and response rates did not differ greatly between the two control groups.
Mild and transient side effects were reported by 43/150 participants (4 in massage; 19 in the control acupuncture and 20 in the depression specific group). Significantly fewer participants reported side-effects in the massage group than the two acupuncture groups.
“The results of our study show that the acupuncture protocol we tested could be a viable treatment option for depression during pregnancy, ” Dr. Schyner said.
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