Research into acupuncture and fertility first began to pick up steam in 2002 when Paulus and his group published the first study of acupuncture in conjunction with IVF (Paulus et al, 2002). Because this yielded such good results, more research was conducted over the following years and there is still ongoing research being conducted in understanding how acupuncture may improve IVF success rates.
Although some previous reviews were unclear, a recent systematic review of research in acupuncture and IVF published in 2017 found that "based on the analysis of the studies, acupuncture improves the Clinical Pregnancy Rate among women undergoing IVF" (Qian et al, 2017). This review was published in the Archives of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and included 30 trials and 6344 participants.
A previous review conducted in 2015 suggested similar results (Shen et al, 2015). More research is required to fully understand the role that acupuncture may have in supporting female fertility, IVF, and pregnancy outcomes.
For more information on Acupuncture and IVF, please visit this page.
References:
Qian, Y., Xia, X.R., Ochin, H., Huang, C., Gao, C., Gao, L., et al (2017). Effect of acupuncture on the outcomes of in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet, 295(3), 543-558.
Shen, C., Wu, M., Shu, D., Zhao, X. & Gao, Y. (2015). The role of acupuncture in in vitro fertilization: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Gynecol Obstet Invest, 79 (1), 1-12.