Acupuncture for the Prevention of Postdates Pregnancy

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Pregnancy

Treatments: Procedure: Acupuncture; Procedure: Sham comparator

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00312585

G0418

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to assess if acupuncture can shorten the time to delivery for women who are experiencing their first, full-term pregnancy.

Full description

There are certain medical conditions that can complicate pregnancies after 40 weeks gestation. However, it is not always safe or easy to put these women into labor. Acupuncture has been used in Asia for hundreds of years to induce contractions and begin the labor process. Acupuncture is not typically used in the United States to induce labor, however. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a series of up to five acupuncture treatments can prevent postdates pregnancy.

Enrollment: 89 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• first, full-term pregnancy
• 38-41 weeks gestation
• English or Spanish speaking
• Bishop score of 7 or less

Exclusion criteria

• uncertain pregnancy dating
• transportation difficulties
• previous inability to tolerate acupuncture
• age less than 18

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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89 participants in 3 patient groups

Acupuncture

Experimental group

Treatment:

Procedure: Acupuncture

Sham Acupuncture

Sham Comparator group

Treatment:

Procedure: Sham comparator

Usual care only

No Intervention group