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.
"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," said Dr. Schnyer, one of the study's authors.
Even though depression in pregnant women occurs on the same level as it does among women of the same age who aren't pregnant and women during the postpartum (after birth) period, fewer treatment studies have been conducted on pregnant depressed women.
Anti-depressant during pregnancy affects the mother and the developing baby.
In the study, 150 participants who were diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder were randomly placed in either a group that received acupuncture specific treatment for depression , or one of two active controls: control acupuncture (they didn't receive acupuncture specific treatment, but another form of acupuncture) or massage .
During 2 months, the women received 12 sessions. Junior acupuncturists unaware of the treatment group assignment needled the participants at point prescribed by senior acupuncturists. The mother's depression symptoms were evaluated at the beginning, after four and eight weeks of treatment.
The women receiving the acupuncture specific treatment experienced a significantly greater decrease in depression severity compared to the combined controls or the non-specific acupuncture group alone. They also had a higher response rate (63.0%) than the combined controls or control acupuncture alone. Symptom reduction and response rates did not differ significantly between controls.
Forty three of the 150 participants reported mild and brief side effects (20 in the depression specific acupuncture group, 19 in the non-specific acupuncture group and 4 in the massage group). Notably fewer participants reported side effects in the massage group than in 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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