Acupuncture to Boost Breast Milk in Postpartum Hypogalactia: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Breast milk is appropriate and useful but the exclusive breastfeeding rate in Thailand was quite low at only 23.1%. Hypogalactia is one of the important barriers of breastfeeding. Studies in Asia and the west have shown that acupuncture could boost breast milk. However, some articles had controversial result. There has been no study to assess efficiency of acupuncture in early postpartum hypogalactia. Objective: To compare the efficacy of acupuncture and conventional treatment for stimulating breast milk in early postpartum hypogalactia at 48 hours. Materials and Methods: A randomized, prospective, clinical trial was used for the present study. Sixty postpartum hypogalactic women of term gestation in postpartum ward in Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021 were enrolled. They were randomized into acupuncture and control groups. In the study group, mothers received once a day acupuncture at 13 acupoints without electrode for three consecutive days by qualified Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner other than conventional treatment. Breast milk quantity were measured at day 1, day 7, and day 14 after the intervention. Results: Mean age of all participants was 29.72±5.96 year, mostly primigravida, delivered by vaginal route. Mean milk volume in the treatment group were significantly higher than the control group (p<0.05) with day 1 at 19.00±22.25 versus 5.97±6.08 mL, day 7 at 78.10±60.38 versus 40.17±28.82 mL, and day 14 at 128.33±64.86 versus 75.00±57.96 mL. The amount of breast milk in the treatment group were 3-fold, 2-fold, and 1.7-fold times more than the control group at day 1, day 7, and day 14, in respective order (p<0.05). Conclusion: Accurate acupuncture intervention could boost breast milk production in early postpartum hypogalactia at 48 hours. Keywords: Postpartum hypogalactia; Acupuncture; Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)