Comparing the Effects of Aromatherapy With Rose Oils and Warm Foot Bath on Anxiety in the First Stage of Labor in Nulliparous Women

Abstract

Background:Anxiety is the most common emotional response in women during delivery, which can be accompanied with adverse effects on fetus and mother.Objectives:This study was conducted to compare the effects of aromatherapy with rose oil and warm foot bath on anxiety in the active phase of labor in nulliparous women in Tehran, Iran.Patients and Methods:This clinical trial study was performed after obtaining informed written consent on 120 primigravida women randomly assigned into three groups. The experimental group 1 received a 10-minute inhalation and footbath with oil rose. The experimental group 2 received a 10-minute warm water footbath. Both interventions were applied at the onset of active and transitional phases. Control group, received routine care in labor. Anxiety was assessed using visual analogous scale (VASA) at onset of active and transitional phases before and after the intervention. Statistical comparison was performed using SPSS software version 16 and P < 0.05 was considered significant.Results:Anxiety scores in the intervention groups in active phase after intervention were significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.001). Anxiety scores before and after intervention in intervention groups in transitional phase was significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.001).Conclusions:Using aromatherapy and footbath reduces anxiety in active phase in nulliparous women.

Métodos não farmacológicos no parto domiciliar

“…Lavender brings relaxing effects and tranquilizers, where studies indicate its use for reducing pain, creating calm along birth. 17 The massage is also an effective nonpharmacological method for pain relief during labor, as it benefits the promotion of relaxation, increased blood flow and consequently the oxygenation of the tissues, as well as reduces the emotional stress, soon, all these benefits become fundamental to reduce the pain that the parturient woman feels during labor. This method can be combined with other therapies (for example, the music therapy) for that relaxation is achieved with more accuracy.…”

Systematic review of the effectiveness of aromatherapy in labor

“…We screened 254 titles and abstracts (Fig. 1), and identified six individual RCTs from six reports [18,19,22,[25][26][27] and four quasi-RCTs from five reports [17,20,21,23,24] for inclusion in the final review. We excluded the trials with massage and bathing as these have other effects.…”

“…Table 1 provides details of the included studies involving 1238 pregnant women at labor onset [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Eight trials included only nulliparous women (81.0%) [17,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27], one trial did not report parity (8.9%) [18], and one trial showed the mean ± SD of the numbers of parity 1.31 ± 0.72 for the intervention group and 1.22 ± 0.91 for the control group (9.6%) [19]. All of the trials recruited participants with singleton pregnancy and full-term pregnancy, and did not report existing medical conditions.…”

“…Most trials recruited predominantly adults (18-35 years old) with cephalic presentation and 3-4 cm cervical dilatation. Nine trials were undertaken in Iran [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]27] and only one was conducted in Thailand [26]. All of the trial settings were at hospitals.…”

“…The reliability of STAI has a Cronbach's alpha of 0.90 [25]. One study used the Visual 7 Analog Scale for Anxiety (VASA) [22]. The scale ranges from 0 to 10 with 0 indicating no anxiety and 10 greatest anxiety [31].…”