The effect of rose water aromatherapy on reducing labor pain in primiparous women

Labor pain is one of the most severe pains women may experience. Aromatherapy is one of the methods to reduce the pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of rose water aromatherapy in reducing this pain. In this clinical trial study, after completing the consent form, 111 primiparous women were randomly divided into three groups; Aromatherapy, Placebo and Control. Intervention was done at two stages; five and eighth centimeter cervix dilatation. Pain severity was measured by visual analogue scale before and 30 minutes after each intervention. In the intervention group, rose water; and in placebo group, distilled water was poured in the subject's hands, and they were asked to sniff the scent. In control group, only routine care was conducted. Before the intervention there was no significant difference in labor pain between the three groups. However, after the first and second interventions, pain intensity was significantly lower in rose water group than the other two groups (p<0.001). In 10 centimeter cervical dilatation, the mean labor pain was 7.59±1.99 in Aromatherapy, 8.94±1.60 in Placebo, 8.89±1.47 in control groups (p<0.001). In assessing change in labor pain over time, repeated measure test showed that at each time of inhaling rose water scent, pain was reduced. But in the placebo and control groups, continuous increase in pain was reported. Regarding the results, inhaling the fragrance of rose water seems to be able to reduce the labor pain.