AcuTrials

The effect of acupressure on the initiation of labor: A randomized controlled trial

Torkzahrani, S. See all items with this value

Mahmoudikohani, F. See all items with this value

Saatchi, K. See all items with this value

Sefidkar, R. See all items with this value

Banaei, M. See all items with this value

Women and Birth : Journal of the Australian College of Midwives See all items with this value

2017

30(1)

46-50

RCT

Acupressure/*methods See all items with this value

Adult See all items with this value

Female See all items with this value

Humans See all items with this value

Labor, Induced/*methods See all items with this value

Labor, Obstetric See all items with this value

*Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) See all items with this value

Parity See all items with this value

Pregnancy See all items with this value

Pregnancy Outcome See all items with this value

Uterine Contraction/*physiology See all items with this value

*Acupressure See all items with this value

*Initiation of labor See all items with this value

*Labor See all items with this value

*Sham acupressure See all items with this value

*Term pregnancy See all items with this value

BACKGROUND: Induction of labor is a common obstetric procedure. Acupressure is a natural method that is used for inducing uterine contractions. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the impact of acupressure on the induction of labor. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acupressure on the initiation of labor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, 162 iparous pregnant women were admitted to the hospital. They were categorized into 3 groups; acupressure, sham acupressure and control. Acupressure points SP6, BL 60 and BL 32 were pressured bilaterally. The intervention was done by the researcher every other day between 9 am and 11 am. The intervention was carried out on women in the afternoon and the following day. Subjects were examined to determine the initiation of labor symptoms48 and 96h after the start of intervention and at the time of hospitalization. Data were analyzed using the ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square tests (p<0.05). RESULTS: There was no significant difference among the groups for spontaneous initiation of labor within 48h (P=0.464), and 49-96h after beginning the intervention (P=0.111) and 97h after beginning the intervention to the time of hospitalization for the spontaneous initiation of labor (P=0.897). There were no significant differences in the secondary outcomes between the groups. CONCLUSION: According to the finding of this study, it seems that acupressure treatment was not effective in initiating labor as compared with the sham acupressure and the routine care groups.

10.1016/j.wombi.2016.07.002

PMID:27444642

English