Effects of TCM-assisted Intervention on Improving Milk Secretion in Postpartum-A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Preprint)

Abstract

UNSTRUCTURED Aim of the study: Breast milk is the safest and most nutritious food for infants, and breastfeeding has many psychological and physical benefits for infants and mothers, but the problems encountered in the breastfeeding process, such as lack of milk, swelling, and other factors, are that postpartum women reduce their willingness to breastfeed themselves, if they can improve lactation through TCM auxiliary therapy, the treatment is safer than drugs and can also relieve the discomfort of postpartum breastfeeding. There are many different TCM adjuvant therapies for the treatment of milk deficiency, such as acupuncture, tuina, acupressure, moxibustion, cupping, etc., and this study wants to discuss the overall efficacy of various TCM auxiliary therapies, and sort out in detail the relevant meridians and acupuncture points for the common treatment of breast deficiency for reference. Study Design: A systematic review up to October 2022 was conducted using electronic databases such as Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Cochrane, CNKI, PubMed, and Airitilibrary. One author extracted data using a pre-designed database that was reviewed by another independent author; All co-authors were included in data assessment and interpretation. These factors were summarized using MATA-Analysis. Through different therapies of traditional Chinese medicine, acupressure point stimulation has achieved clinical remarkable, showing that it can effectively improve lactation and breast fullness, thereby helping patients with milk deficiency to increase their feeding rate. Results: The data results are statistically different. Statistics in TCM-assisted therapies, the most common is acupressure for breast massage, followed by moxibustion and ear burial beans. Through different therapies of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture point stimulation has achieved clinical remarkable, showing that it can effectively improve lactation and breast fullness, thereby helping patients with milk deficiency to increase feeding rate. Conclusion: Nowadays, it is still rare for patients with postpartum milk deficiency to see the use of TCM-assisted therapy clinically. The results of this systematic review can be empirically significant. Breast acupressure, ear acupuncture, and moxibustion are non-invasive treatments and can effectively help patients in lactation, and clinical should be considered and widely promoted.