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MS WordPerinatologist Corner - C.E.U/C.M.E. Modules
Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy
Sponsored by The Indian Health Service Clinical Support Center
11. What about ‘alternative’ therapies?
Other options are P6 acupuncture or acupressure wristbands and powdered ginger (1 gram daily). (See Herbal or ‘Natural’ alternatives)
Although acupuncture has been shown to be useful when compared to no treatment, there appears to be a strong placebo effect. A Cochrane type review did not find P6 acupuncture or acupressor to be clearly effective.
Although ginger has been shown to be more effective than placebo and equivalent to vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), its safety in pregnancy has not been firmly established.
Hypnosis has been reported to be helpful in selected patients. It has been suggested that hypnotized women with severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy are more easily influenced by suggestion than controls, and at least one controlled study supports this hypothesis. In a limited number of studies, all lacking controls, hypnosis has been shown to decrease vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy and those with hyperemesis gravidarum.
Psychotherapy can also be a useful adjunctive therapy, if other psychological sources of anxiety are identified and can be ameliorated. There is little evidence for a therapeutic effect of traditional psychotherapy in hyperemesis gravidarum. No controlled trials have evaluated behavioral therapy in nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, but there are data to indicate that delayed and anticipatory nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy is diminished by systematic desensitization and relaxation therapy.
