Acupuncture in obstetrics: delivery room integrative medicine for anxiety and pain
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Supportive and palliative care include non-oncology settings where patients suffer from pain and quality of life-related concerns. Integrative medicine plays important roles in supportive care and symptom management, including Integrative Obstetric (IOb) programmes within peri-partum settings. Multidisciplinary approaches may help nurse-midwives and obstetricians improve patient care and associated outcomes. This study presents a national perspective on IOb programmes in Israel. METHODS: A qualitative research methodology was codesigned by the Society for Complementary Medicine and Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Israel Medical Association. A questionnaire with 17 open-ended questions was distributed throughout obstetrics and gynaecology departments across Israel. Respondent narratives were qualitatively analysed using ATLAS.Ti software for systematic coding. RESULTS: 22 senior obstetricians and IOb directors across 11 centres with IOb programmes completed the questionnaire. Core themes considered essential for the design and operation of IOb programmes included (1) determining major goals and indications for referral, primarily pain and anxiety; (2) targeting patients most likely to benefit; (3) identifying barriers and enablers to implementation and communication with the obstetric team; (4) designing the referral process and (5) documenting outcomes and safety of the IOb intervention in electronic medical files. CONCLUSIONS: Designing and implementing IOb models of care that effectively support holistic symptom management within obstetric settings requires identifying barriers and enablers and establishing effective communication between obstetric and integrative medical teams. Further research should explore other multidisciplinary models of IOb care and structured referral development and testing while assessing risks and effectiveness.
Source: BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
Authors: Eran Ben-Arye, Tal Biron-Shental, William E Rosa, Noah Samuels, Oz Levy, Yael Keshet, Shunit Armon, Orit Gressel, Reuven Kedar, Aviv Messinger, Revital Lev Ari, Anat Lavie, Neta Atzil, Bosmat Ben Zohar, Cara Ferrer Sokolovski, Ido Solt, Hila Yaffe, Gil Shechter Maor, Moti Levy, Esther Maor-Sagie, Danit Katz Shtern, Gali Stoffman, Reut Ben Ze’ev, Maayan Lahav Sher, Betty Zidenberg, Shlomi Sagi, Elad Schiff
Institutions: Meir Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Bikur Cholim Hospital, Western Galilee College, Carmel Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Hadassah Medical Center, Rambam Health Care Campus, Clalit Health Services, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, Barzilai Medical Center, Bnai Zion Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Cancer Institute
Award: Cancer Center Support Grant
OpenAlex ID: W4409497740