A new study has revealed that acupuncture, a therapy designed to treat depression, might just be helpful in improving symptoms of depression in pregnant women, and this might just be a good and natural alternative to antidepressant medicines that women are put on when they are expecting.

The study has emerged as the largest to date which analyzes the effectiveness of acupuncture in treatment of depression in pregnant women. Funds for the research were granted by Government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

"Acupuncture that we have tested works for pregnant, depressed women, no single study is enough to make policy recommendations", said study author Rachel Manber, a Professor at Stanford University.

Depression during pregnancy is common, and a risk factor for postpartum depression, which is strongly linked, by some studies, with poorer cognitive and emotional development in children. Some experts believe that depression in pregnancy can lead to low birth weight of the child.

Details of the study stressing benefits of acupuncture during pregnancy have been published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynaecology.