Acupuncture When Pregnant: Benefits & Common Questions

Acupuncture is commonly sought out for fertility support. Naturally, for these patients, once they become pregnant they find themselves wondering about the safety of acupuncture when pregnant.

Pregnancy can be an exciting, stressful, scary, and weird time in a person’s life. You might be feeling exhausted, nauseous, and uncomfortable in your changing body. While some alternative health treatments, such as massage therapy and reiki are well known and understood for the benefits that they can bring during pregnancy, such as helping relieve muscle tension, pain, and discomfort. Other treatments, like acupuncture, are less well known for its benefits during pregnancy.

We get asked about the safety and benefits of acupuncture when pregnant a lot, so today, we thought we’d answer those common questions.

Is acupuncture safe during pregnancy?

Acupuncture has been proven to be safe, beneficial and effective during pregnancy. ¹Make sure you’re seeing a trained professional with experience with women’s health and pregnancy.²

Just like massage, there are certain points to avoid during pregnancy.

What are the risks of acupuncture when pregnant?

You want to make the best possible choice for your baby. That means making informed choices about the treatments you’re receiving and any possible risks and side effects. The risks associated with acupuncture during pregnancy are the same as the risks of acupuncture when not pregnant. The risks are rare but include soreness, redness, infection at the insertion site and injury if the needles are placed too deeply.²

The biggest risk of acupuncture when pregnant depends on where the needles are placed. Some acupuncture points are said to induce contractions, such as points in the ankles and need to be avoided until term.²

How can acupuncture help when pregnant?

Acupuncture can be so beneficial during pregnancy and has different benefits depending on your trimester. Commonly during the first trimester, acupuncture is used to help maintain the pregnancy, and to ease symptoms like fatigue, nausea and heartburn.¹During the second and third trimesters, acupuncture can be used to ease aches and pains, improve digestion and decrease welling.¹ During the last trimester, there are specific acupuncture points that can help to prepare the body for labour.¹

Some of the other common symptoms acupuncture can help with during pregnancy are carpal tunnel, sciatica, back pain, headaches, morning sickness, pelvic pain, and sleep problems.²

Does acupuncture hurt?

No, but also yes. Typically acupuncture does not hurt, in fact, some people often find it relaxing and some even fall asleep.¹ However, sometimes when we have really tight muscles, or irritable pressure points there can be some discomfort and pain.¹ Your acupuncturist works with you to help ensure that your treatment is as painless and effective as possible. Jenny is awesome at this using a distracting technique to make it easier when inserting the needles so you hardly even notice!