Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have the potential to provide supportive care for women presenting with threatened miscarriage. Acupuncture is a treatment modality that belongs to the wider scope of practice within traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with TCM also including the use of herbal medical, massage and manipulation techniques. Within fertility research, acupuncture and Chinese herbology demonstrate beneficial hormonal responses with decreased miscarriage rates, raising the possibility acupuncture may promote specific beneficial effects in early pregnancy.

Miscarriages can happen with unknown reasons or chemical pregnancy and with probable known reasons. Threatened miscarriage involves vaginal bleeding in a pregnancy that remains viable. This is a common early pregnancy complication with increased risk factors for early pregnancy loss, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), preterm delivery, low birth weight babies and maternal antepartum haemorrhage. Currently there are no recommended medical treatment options, rather women receive advice that centers on a ‘wait and see’ approach. Most of miscarriage can be RECURRENT PREGNANCY LOSS(RPL) which is devastating enough in terms of the cycle of expectation, disappointment and scare.

Vaginal bleeding

Vaginal bleeding is a common complication of pregnancy, with an estimated 20% of pregnant women experiencing this in the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy.Women presenting with light vaginal bleeding have twice the rate of miscarriage when compared to pregnancies with no vaginal bleeding, with this risk factor increasing to four times with heavy vaginal bleeding. These pregnancies are associated with events such as antepartum haemorrhage, premature delivery, and result in a significantly higher rate of low-birthweight babies. women in a small prospective study, were tested for hormonal changes while undergoing IVF treatment. The 34 women receiving acupuncture demonstrated significant beneficial changes in serum cortisol and prolactin levels (stress hormones thought to impact on IVF pregnancy rates), compared to the 33 women receiving IVF medication alone [41]. In addition, this study found a significant reduction in miscarriage rates amongst those women receiving acupuncture treatment (p < 0.05).

Recurrent miscarriage and chemical pregnancies

Many miscarriages are defined as unknown miscarriage or chemical pregnancies. In this case, only “wait and see” for convention medicine. For Chinese medicine, there is a lot to do in terms of diagnosis and treatment approaches to correct imbalance and prepare for pregnancy. Acupuncture increases the blood flow and herbs provide nutritional support to the ovaries to nourish the developing follicles and create better egg quality and stronger embryos. They also warms the uterus to nourish the developing fetus, improve the blood flow to the placenta, and prevent uterine contractions. It normalizes the function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovarian axis to regulate and improve the body’s natural hormonal production, which in turn improves ovarian function, egg quality, and proper progesterone levels. And, acupuncture relaxes the body and reduces stress levels to prevent early uterine contractions.

Body cleanse from IVF/IUI

For patient miscarriage from IVF/IUI session, it takes more time for the body and soul recuperate from the failed pregnancy. Usually it would take 3-4 months for the medial remnant go away and cycle go back to normal. With Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs) help, it would take less time to recover. We aim to cleanse the body and then build up again. Also in preparing mind, in some cases, patients have had every test imaginable and the doctors can’t find any reason for their losses, so it would be helpful to take a 10-12 treatments of acupuncture to prepare mind and body for pregnancy, and then continue through the first trimester. Usually after having some first treatments, patients can feel like the depression, anger and frustration from all of their losses is slipping away and have a new sense of peace and hope.

• Have enough sleep
• Eat a healthy and well balanced diet
• Low impact walking, no running and rushing
• Manage stress, stay positive