This meant that using acupuncture to stimulate labour in overdue mothers to be had a success rate of 88%.

This showed that acupuncture can still be effective today as it has been for over thousands of years.

While I was working in the Hospitals in China, induction using acupuncture was given for 3-hour intervals with the needles being attached to an electro-muscle stimulator at 3 Hz. This was done everyday till onset of labour and that acupuncture was used to help speed up the labour process and relieve pain.

With my research, needles were only inserted for 1.5-hour period and were stimulated via electro muscle stimulator at roughly 1.5 Hz. Even at this shorter rate of time the same results were produced.

The time lapsing from having treatment and labour commencing was in a time frame of 2.5 hours (being the quickest) to 26 hours being the longest. This would roughly be in range of having a membrane sweep, but not anywhere as invasive or painful.

The points that were used were (Colon 4), (Spleen 6), (Gallbladder 21), and (Kidney 6). Each point was used

BI-laterally and firstly stimulated by hand then attached to electro-stimulation for 1.5 hours.

These results showed that acupuncture could not only be very effective in overdue mothers, but, also less invasive and not as confronting. It only starts the natural process of labour form the very beginning.

Continued on Pg 2...

...Continued from Pg 1

Medical processes such as the use of cyntosin are very effective but at the same time tend to put the woman into tertiary stage of labour and pain can be very sudden and severe. Many women say that they feel very out of control with this style of process and most of them tend to be overdue with subsequent pregnancies, most probably due to psychological fear of the first process.

With the use of acupuncture for induction, it may not be as effective as some western medical methods but it is less invasive and far less confronting for the mothers to be. All mothers to be who have had medical induction before, comment on how less confronting and how more gradual the whole Acupuncture induction process are. With this in mind, the acupuncture maybe more effective for mothers to be in the fact that it doesn’t produce the same intensity for labour or the same psychological trauma.

In saying this, the acupuncture process is not 100% effective, but neither is the medical induction process. Also one application of Prostaglandin gel cost the hospital around $90. Eight acupuncture needles cost around $1.

With that in mind, acupuncture holds many benefits. Cost effective, non- invasive, more than average success rate and less emotionally traumatic. This could be used very effectively within our hospitals here just like it is used in China. It could be used as first choice of treatment and if this process fails, western medical treatment can then take place. Either way, this process save the hospital system much needed money. Not only is it cost effective but also research shows that women who do regularly have acupuncture prior to labour have less medical intervention than those who don’t use it do. Intervention costs money. (This is backed up by a study commissioned by the Victorian Dept Human Health services, NSW Dept health and Qld Dept of Health).