Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Apr;10(4):QC12-5.
doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2016/17447.7688. Epub 2016 Apr 1.

Effect of Massage Therapy on Duration of Labour: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nahid Bolbol-Haghighi  1 , Seyedeh Zahra Masoumi  2 , Farideh Kazemi  3
Affiliations

Effect of Massage Therapy on Duration of Labour: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nahid Bolbol-Haghighi et al. J Clin Diagn Res. 2016 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Massage is an old technique that is widely used in childbirth and can decrease the childbirth pain by reducing the adrenaline and noradrenaline and increasing the endorphins and oxytocin and reduce the childbirth duration by increasing the uterine contractions. Therefore.

Aim: This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of massage therapy on the duration of labour.

Materials and methods: The present study was performed as randomized controlled clinical trial method on 100 pregnant women referred to maternity ward in Fatemieh Hospital, Shahroud. Subjects with inclusion criteria and who were interested to participate in the study were placed in one of the test or control groups based on pre-specified sequence. Questionnaires were completed in several stages. Data analysis was conducted using chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney test and multivariate linear regression in SPSS-21software. In data analysis, p < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The results of multivariate linear regression showed that the duration of the first and second stage labour in the massage receiving group is significantly decreased compared to the test group (p= 0.004 and p= 0.02, respectively). In addition, the Apgar scores at minutes 1 and 5 in test group is significantly increased compared to control group (p <0.0001).

Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that massage therapy during labour will lead to shortening of the first and second stage labour duration and improve Apgar scores at the first and fifth minutes. By shortening the duration of labour, pregnant women tend to have more normal vaginal delivery.

Keywords: Apgar score; First stage labour; Second stage labour.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

[Table/Fig-1]:
[Table/Fig-1]:
Flow diagram of the participants.
[Table/Fig-4]:
[Table/Fig-4]:
Comparison of partogram curve in the two groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lundgren I. Swedish women’s experiences of doula support during childbirth. Midwifery. 2010;26(2):173–80. - PubMed
    1. Yuenyong S, Jirapaet V, O’Brien BA. Support from a close female relative in labour: the ideal maternity nursing intervention in Thailand. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand Chotmaihet Thangphaet. 2008;91(2):253–60. - PubMed
    1. Alehagen S, Wijma B, Lundberg U, Wijma K. Fear, pain and stress hormones during childbirth. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2005;26(3):153–65. - PubMed
    1. Cunningham F, Leveno K, Bloom S, Hauth J, Rouse D, Spong C. Williams Obstetrics. 23rd Edition. McGraw-Hill Education; 2009.
    1. Gibbs RS, Danforth DN. Danforth’s Obstetrics and Gynecology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008.

LinkOut - more resources