Yoga Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Yoga, including details on benefits, health, treatment, back pain.

Complementary and alternative medicine for low-back pain in pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey.

Wang SM, DeZinno P, Fermo L, William K, Caldwell-Andrews AA, Bravemen F, Kain ZN

Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06518, USA. shu-ming.wang@yale.edu

OBJECTIVE: To identify common treatments used for low-back pain (LBP) during pregnancy. DESIGN: A two-part anonymous survey. SETTING/LOCATION: New Haven, Connecticut. SUBJECTS: Pregnant women and providers of prenatal health care (nurse educators, nurse midwives, and obstetricians). RESULTS: We found that the majority of pregnant women who participated in our survey (61.7%) reported that they would accept complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy as treatment for LBP during pregnancy. Similarly, 61% of providers of prenatal health care in our sample reported that they would consider using CAM as treatment for LBP during pregnancy. Massage (61.4%), acupuncture (44.6%), relaxation (42.6%), yoga (40.6%), and chiropractic (36.6%) were the most common CAM therapies recommended for LBP in pregnancy by the providers of prenatal health care in our sample. CONCLUSIONS: This two-part survey study found that both providers of prenatal health care and pregnant women in New Haven county are likely to use CAM treatments for pregnancy-induced LBP. Further investigation should focus on whether it is a nationwide phenomenon, as well as if various CAM therapies are an efficacious treatment for LBP during pregnancy.

Published 4 July 2005 in J Altern Complement Med, 11(3): 459-64.
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