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Background: Labor pain management continues to be a challenge for maternity nurses & physician caring for women during labor and birth process. Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the effect of acupressure at sanyinjiao point (SP6) on labor pains and the duration of delivery in primigravida women. Methods: This study was conducted at labor and delivery unit at Cairo University hospital. One hundred (100) women in labor were randomly selected (50 women for each group). Labor pain and progress were measured using a structured questionnaire, partograph and subjective labor pain scale (visual-analogue scale [VAS]): before intervention, immediately after the intervention, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 120 minutes after intervention. Results: There were significant differences between groups in subjective labor pain scores at all time points following the intervention: immediately after the intervention (p< 0.004); 30 minutes after the intervention (p = 0.002); 60 minutes after the intervention (p = 0.02); and 120 minutes after the intervention (p = 0.03). The total labor duration (3 cm dilatation to delivery) was significantly shorter in the SP6 acupressure intervention group than in the control group (p = 0.03). Conclusion: The findings showed that SP6 acupressure was effective related to the reduction of labor pains, and duration of delivery. SP6 acupressure during labor could be applied as an effective non pharmacological management during labor.

Background: Aerobic exercise combined with breathing exercise can be an integral part of diabetes mellitus treatment. This single-center, randomized, parallel-group study investigated the effect of the combination of aerobic exercise with slow deep breathing and mindfulness meditation on the glucose and cortisol levels of women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Materials and Methods: Fifty-eight middle-aged women with T2DM (mean age: 45.67 ± 2.92 years) were randomly assigned to either the aerobic training group (AT: n = 29; mean age [46.1 ± 2.7 years]) or the aerobic exercise combined with slow deep breathing and mindfulness meditation (AT + DMM: n = 29; mean age [45.24 ± 3.14 years]). Aerobic exercise was performed at 60%–75% of the maximum heart rate. The women in each group were asked to perform the training three times weekly over a 6-week period. The duration of each session was 40 min for the AT group and 60 min for the AT + DMM group. The two groups were asked to perform aerobic exercise at 60%–75% of the maximum heart rate. Their fasting blood glucose (FBG) and serum cortisol levels were measured at the baseline and after the 6 weeks.Results: Compared with the AT group, the group undertaking 6 weeks of aerobic training combined with slow, deep breathing exercises and mindfulness meditation showed significantly lower levels of FBG (p = 0.001) and cortisol levels (p = 0.01) than the AT group.Conclusion: The addition of slow deep breathing and mindfulness meditation to aerobic exercise can better control the glucose and cortisol levels of women with T2DM and thereby improve their outcomes and decrease their cardiometabolic risk.

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