Effects of Guided Imagery on Blood Pressure in Pregnant Women with Hypertension: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Further rigorous study is warranted to determine effects of guided imagery on maternal blood pressure and perinatal health outcomes.

Effects of a Guided Imagery Intervention on Stress in Hospitalized Pregnant Women

“…17,19,57 The significant decrease in systolic blood pressure found in this study suggests a beneficial effect of GI on the SAM system. 56 The findings also support the feasibility of conducting a randomized clinical trial of a holistic GI intervention. 28,69 Other studies 20,56 have not documented similar results, and this inconsistency may be explained by methodological differences.…”

“…56 While there was a trend toward better responses for blood pressure in the GI group than in the quiet rest group, no statistical differences were found. Of the limited research, one study recruited hypertensive pregnant women (n = 69) from either an outpatient or a hospital setting and randomized them to an intervention that required either listening for 15 minutes to GI being played with background music twice a day for 4 weeks or taking 15 minutes of quiet rest for the same duration.…”

“…The finding that mean stress scores after participation in a GI intervention was statistically significantly lower than the mean level of stress prior to the intervention is consistent with the limited number of previous studies examining GI and/or relaxation during pregnancy. 28,69 Other studies 20,56 have not documented similar results, and this inconsistency may be explained by methodological differences. Although assessment of NE and E during pregnancy requires a clinical laboratory setting, as catecholamines need to be measured in blood plasma and have half-lives of only about 2 minutes in circulation, 20 indirect assessment of SAM activity can be determined by physiological measures such as heart rate or blood pressure.…”

A randomized control trial: the effect of guided imagery with tape and perceived happy memory on chronic tension type headache

“…Likewise, Moffatt et al. (21) showed there is no evidence of GI effect on blood pressure and anxiety in pregnant women; however, nearly 90% of the GI group indicated that they would use it again. Moreover, Chen and Francis’s (22) results indicated consistent and clinically significant trends of improvement on pain, mental health, all domains of quality of life and sleep for the GI group only.…”

Commentary: Nonpharmacological Approaches to Hypertension in Pregnancy Need Further Evaluation

“…The paper by Wight Moffatt et al (1) provides a novel approach to evaluate the extremely common problem of hypertension in pregnancy. This pilot study randomized 69 hypertensive pregnant women to periods of either guided imagery or quiet rest.…”