Acupuncture not a fertility aid during IVF

Acupuncture does nothing to boost a woman's chances of getting pregnant, London fertility experts said today.

Doctors in the Assisted Conception unit at Guy's and St Thomas' analysed 13 acupuncture trials involving 2,473 women at various stages of IVF.

The study was headed up by Professor Peter Braude and was presented today at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Barcelona.

Acupuncturists claim that inserting needles into the body's pressure points increases blood flow which thickens the lining of the womb and it is so popular that it is even offered on the NHS.

This popularity was boosted further by a US study published this year in the British Medical Journal which concluded acupuncture could boost the chance of pregnancy by 65 per cent.