Apart from this 2015 Cochrane Review, several reviews have been authored which generally concluded that there is promising evidence of acupuncture’s effectiveness and safety in treating LBP and PP during pregnancy, especially when compared with physical therapy or usual prenatal care. However the limited number of high quality studies makes it difficult to make clinical recommendations based on the evidence currently available. The overall conclusion is that acupuncture shows potential as a treatment for lower back and pelvic pain during pregnancy, but more studies are needed (2, 3, 4, 11).

Two RCT’s have been conducted recently (2019); the first investigated ear acupuncture for LBP and PP and found a statistically significant reduction in pain in the verum ear acupuncture group (5), and the second study investigated boh pain reduction and cost-effectiveness (6). This study compared women receiving acupuncture and usual care to usual care only, and found that while there was an additional health care cost associated with acupuncture, the reduction in missed days of work due to pain relief resulted in lower total costs.