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Acupuncture during IVF treatment can possibly lower anxiety at the time of embryo transfer but seems to have no long-term impact on women's quality of life.
2019 Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica The effects of acupuncture on the secondary outcomes of anxiety and quality of life for women undergoing IVF: A randomized controlled trial Smith CA, de Lacey S, Chapman M, Ratcliffe J, Norman RJ, Johnson NP, et al.
Randomised Controlled Trial Acupuncture Anxiety
A multicenter randomised controlled trial was conducted recruiting women between 18 to 42 years, who were already undergoing a fresh IVF cycle and not using acupuncture. The experiment ran between June 2011 and October 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. Random assignments placed participants in either the acupuncture group or a control group which received sham acupuncture. Three treatments were administered in total - the first between the 6th and 8th day of ovarian stimulation, and the other two on the day of the embryo transfer.
The results of the study highlighted that participants who received acupuncture reported experiencing significantly less anxiety following the embryo transfer. However, no discernible difference was found between the groups in terms of quality of life following the embryo transfer. The apparent benefit of acupuncture on the general health of participants was not sustained 14 weeks after the trial, which indicates that acupuncture might not have a long-term impact on a woman's emotional well-being following an IVF cycle.