Abstract: (18549 Views)
Background: Labor pain, which is a natural, unique and multi- factorial pain, is considereds a major part of women's anxiety at reproductive ages. There are two pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for reducing this pain. Since the pharmacological approach involves side effects, lots of attention has recently been given to the non-pharmacological methods. One of these methods, is use inc birth ball the, which includes sitting and rocking on the birth ball. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using birth ball on labor pain, the duration of active phase and contractions of physiologic labor. Materials and Methods: In this randomized control-clinical trial, sixty primiparous women (18-35 year old) were selected and randomly assighed into birth ball and control groups. The severity of pain was measured through Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the pain score, interval between contractions and duration of active phase were compared between the two groups. Results: The average pain score in the birth ball group was significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). In terms of interval between the contractions, duration of active phase and uterine contractions, there were no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: Although use of birth ball did not have any effects on the duration of active phase, uterine contractions and interval between uterine contractions, this complementary therapy reduced the severity of pain during the active phase of delivery. Therefore, this safe method is suggested to be used during normal vaginal delivery and physiologic labor. Also, conducting a study, which examines the effects of using a combination of complementary methods, is recommended
Subject:
Obstetrics & Gynocology Received: 2009/11/7