Biomedical Research

Background: Labour is the most poignant and fruitful moment in a woman’s life. World Health Organization has emphasized on the necessity of incorporating complementary therapies by health professionals. International Confederation of Midwives has recommended labour support and integration of non-pharmacological measures for the effective management of women in labour.

Objective: To compare of the effect of control, presence of a skilled birth attendant and reflexotherapy on labour outcomes among primi gravid women in terms of pain, duration of labour and birth satisfaction.

Materials and Methods: A true experimental design with systematic random sampling method was employed for the study. Forty five primigravid women in labour, 15 in each group, between 37 to 40 w of gestation were included in the study after obtaining voluntary informed consent. The control group was given routine care in the labour room. Instructional, emotional and physical support with continuous presence from 3-4 cm of cervical dilatation till the end of third stage was ensured to the skilled birth attendant group. Application of reflexotherapy for 45 min from 3-4 cm of cervical dilatation was given to the reflexotherapy group. The tools used were numerical pain scale, behaviour response to pain assessment scale, partograph and birth satisfaction scale.

Results: Kruskal wallies one way ANOVA on ranks showed significant difference (P ≤ 0.001) between the three groups in pain for all the three stages of observation using the numerical pain scale and significant difference (P ≤ 0.05), between the three groups, in the postural response to pain in all the three stages of observation and for the facial, verbal and motor response to pain at 5-6 and 7-8 cm of cervical dilation. Kruskal wallies one way ANOVA on ranks showed no significant difference between the control, skilled birth attendant and reflexotherapy groups on duration of labour among the three groups and there was significant difference (P ≤ 0.007) in the post-delivery assessment of birth satisfaction.

Conclusion: These findings construe that reflexotherapy and skilled birth attendant are effective for positive labour outcomes in terms of pain and quality of birth experience.

Author(s): Mathew Jijimole, Jaleel Abdul A, Vijayaraghavan R, Susila C
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