Interesting Cases

Many people don’t realize just how effective acupuncture and Chinese herbs can be for a wide variety of health concerns.   We decided to begin a new series that showcases these “interesting cases.”  Rick Oberg is going to kick things off with a truly remarkable story about a twin pregnancy and early rupture of membranes and how his careful application of Chinese medicine literally saved the day. 

by Rick Oberg, LAc

I have often discussed the effectiveness of acupuncture for pregnancy care and keeping the pregnancy stable to prevent miscarriage. During my 11 plus years of experience in treating pregnancy, I have not had a patient miscarry when following their recommended care completely. I have decided to start this series off with one of those cases. 

CASE: Twin Pregnancy and Early Rupture of Membranes 

A 32-year-old woman came to me for fertility treatments after trying to conceive for 3 years. We started with weekly acupuncture treatments only, without herbs. Her first treatment was on day eight of her cycle. During her second cycle, while receiving acupuncture treatments, she found out she was pregnant. She only came in for two acupuncture treatments after getting the positive pregnancy results, even though I recommended treatment through her entire first trimester. I received a call from my patient when she was 17 weeks along. She was having twins and her water had just broken. Her doctor confirmed she had a dangerously low amount of amniotic fluid remaining and recommended terminating the pregnancy. Her doctor told her that the likelihood of carrying her twins to viability was nonexistent and the risk of infection (and future complications) was inevitable. The patient decided she was not going to terminate the pregnancy and her doctor reluctantly agreed to let her continue with regular monitoring. We proceeded with weekly acupuncture treatments to stabilize the pregnancy and started an herbal formula to prevent infection. At 26 weeks, her doctor ordered bed rest with the exception of her acupuncture treatments and doctors visits. Her doctor was astonished that the babies were continuing to develop and amazed that with the acupuncture and herbal formulas, viability was actually possible. At 29 weeks it was decided that the risks continued to grow while the pregnancy was a few weeks into viability. Twin brothers came into this world at 29 weeks and at 36 weeks, they were able to come home from the hospital. 

The patient came back to my office two years later with her beautiful twin sons and started acupuncture treatments again to conceive. She proceeded to use acupuncture successfully to conceive three more babies and followed the recommended acupuncture treatments for each of those healthy, and fortunately uneventful, pregnancies.