Acupuncture for the Mental and Emotional Health of Women Undergoing IVF Treatment: A Comprehensive Review

One in six Australian couples currently struggle with impaired fertility. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) has become the assisted reproductive technology (ART) of choice. The IVF process has inherent stresses: the invasive procedures; medication; knowledge that it might be the last possibility for pregnancy; and the high cost. Both authors have observed in different settings (one clinical and the other during a clinical trial) that women often reported an improved sense of wellbeing and emotional health due to the acupuncture intervention. This paper summarises the reported benefits of acupuncture treatment for mental and emotional health during IVF identified in published peer-reviewed research papers – both theoretically (pathogenesis and physiology) and clinically (with reference to acupuncture treatment and the therapeutic encounter). The trials reviewed, investigating mental and emotional health during IVF treatment, indicate acupuncture had positive outcomes including: reduced anxiety; reduced stress; less social and relationship concern and improved psychological coping. This paper suggests that reflecting on and valuing the therapeutic alliance, including its collaborative nature, the patient feeling cared for and a perception that practitioners are empathetic, could improve fertility outcomes and the emotional health of infertile women through the process of IVF treatment. K E Y W O R D S acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, in vitro fertilisation, IVF, fertility, stress, anxiety In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) IVF is one form of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and estimates show that 3.6% of women in Australia who gave birth received some form of ART treatment. With just over 60 000 ART treatment cycles, there was a clinical pregnancy rate of 23.9% and a live delivery rate of 18.1%. One in six Australian couples ‘are currently struggling with impaired fertility’. Infertility as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the ‘failure to conceive after twelve months of unprotected intercourse’. The causes of infertility in Australia and New Zealand as documented by the Australian government in 2010 are: ‘Of the 60 687 initiated autologous and recipient cycles, 21.7% reported male infertility factors as the only cause of infertility; 38.6% reported only female infertility factors; 13.8% reported combined male–female factors; 25.2% reported unexplained infertility; and 0.7% were not stated.’ Marriage and childbirth occurring later in life is a main social cause of infertility. The prognosis of ART outcomes are affected by maternal age and the type of infertility experienced.