The effect of abdominal massage along with breathing techniques during labor on duration of uterine contractions in primiparous women

Childbirth is one of the most unique moments of women's life, however, if it's natural process is prolonged, then leads to intolerable phenomenon in mother, so that it is associated with undesirable maternal and fetal complications. Therefore, this study was performed with aim to evaluate the effect of abdominal massage along with breathing techniques on duration of uterine contractions in primiparous women.
This randomized control trial was performed on 64 pregnant primiparous women referred to Tehran Lolagar hospital in 2010. The subjects were divided into experiment and control groups through systematic random assignment. In experimental group (n=32), effleurage abdominal massage with breathing techniques was performed during 30 minutes of early active and transferal phase, and control group (n=32) received routine care. Features of uterine contractions and duration of childbirth stages were examined in both groups. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 17), and using Chi-square, Fisher, and independent t tests. P ≤0.05 was considered significant.
Based on the results, mean duration of first stage of childbirth after the intervention (70±254.74 vs. 311±63.05 min) was significantly less in experimental group than control group (P=0.002). Duration of second (p=0/952) and third (p=0/672) stages of childbirth was not significantly different between two groups. Mean number of uterine contractions was significantly higher in experimental group (P0/05).
Abdominal massage along with breathing technics increases the number of uterine contractions in labor while has no adverse effect on the delivery outcomes. Therefore, it is recommended this non-drug approach be used instead of drug-based methods which strengthen uterine contractions such as oxytocin.