Effect of pain reduction using Acupuncture for Women in Labour

Effect of Pain Reduction Using Acupuncture for Women in Labour
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Effect of Pain Reduction Using Acupuncture for Women in Labour
The need for effective pain management interventions during childbirth cannot be overemphasizedCITATION Pai14 l 2057 (Lally, Thomson, MacPhail, & Exley, 2014). Herein, a systematic review topic on the effectiveness of acupuncture in pain reduction for women in labour is formulated and it encompasses a research question, clinical justification, and relevance to Chinese medicine.
Research Topic and Question
The systematic review topic is formulated following the PICOS (Patients, Interventions, Comparators, Outcomes, Study design) format. The patient population (study group) is women in labour. The proposed intervention is acupuncture. In this study, there will be no comparators. The anticipated outcomes is substantial pain reduction through acupuncture. The study design is a systematic review. From the above, it is possible to formulate the following study topic: Investigating the Impact of Acupuncture as an Effective Intervention for Pain Management for Women in Labour: A Systematic Review. The following research question will guide the study: Is acupuncture a more effective pain management intervention with pharmacological methods?
Justification and Relevance to Chinese Medicine
The need to identify a safe and effective pain management intervention for women in labour is vital. For some, religion and culture prohibit administration of conventional pain medications during childbirth CITATION Lon12 l 2057 (Ebirim, Buowari, & Ghosh, 2012).

In other instances, IV medications (such as pethidine) may lead to drowsiness, nausea, and decreased respiration rate for the woman in labour CITATION Mar09 l 2057 m Sin16 (Iliadou, 2009; Singer, et al., 2016). As such, acupuncture presents as a safer alternative intervention. There have been promising results of using acupuncture in relieving labour painsCITATION Asa15 m Akb14 l 2057 (Asadi, et al., 2015; Nwanodi, 2016). This form of alternative medicine constitutes a core pillar of traditional Chinese medicine that has been employed for centuries as a form of treatment for various medical conditions.
Literature Search
The PubMed database will be employed to locate relevant studies on the topic. In this brief scoping exercise, the employed search criteria yielded 39 randomised controlled studies (RCTs) on acupuncture and its role as an alternative pain management intervention during childbirth.

References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Asadi, N., Maharlouei, N., Khalili, A., Darabi, Y., Davoodi, S., Shahraki, H. R., . . . Kasraeian, M. (2015). Effects of LI-4 and SP-6 Acupuncture on Labor Pain, Cortisol Level and Duration of Labor. Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies, 8(5), 249-254.
Ebirim, L. N., Buowari, O. Y., & Ghosh, S. (2012). Physical and Psychological Aspects of Pain in Obstetrics. In S. Ghosh (Ed.), Pain in Perspective (pp. 219-236). INTECH.
Iliadou, M. (2009). Labour pain and pharmacological pain relief practice points. Health Science Journal, 3(4), 197-201.
Lally, J. E., Thomson, R. G., MacPhail, S., & Exley, C. (2014). Pain relief in labour: a qualitative study to determine how to support women to make decisions about pain relief in labour. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth, 14(6), 2-10.
Nwanodi, O. B. (2016). Labor Pain Treated with Acupuncture or Acupressure. Chinese Medicine, 7, 133-152.
Singer, J., Jank, A., Amara, S., Stepan, P. D., Kaisers, U., & Hoehne, C. (2016). Efficacy and Effects of Parenteral Pethidine or Meptazinol and Regional Analgesia for Pain Relief during Delivery. A Comparative Observational Study. Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde, 76(9), 964-971.