The Effect of Infant Massage on Postpartum Blues in Primiparous Women

postpartum blues is a complication which affects mother's health and her relation with newborn and her physical and psychological health. Therefore, health team should consider early interventions to prevent postpartum blues. This study was performed with aim to determine the effect of infant massage on postpartum blues in primiparous women.
This clinical trial study was performed on 54 primiparous women with natural delivery who referred to Mashhad Imam Reza and Omolbanin hospitals in 2016. The mothers in intervention group massaged their newborn 15 minutes daily for 10 days and no intervention was done for control group. Severity of postpartum blues was evaluated on the 1st, 4th and 10th days after birth in case and control groups. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 16) and using Mann-Whitney, Fisher exact and Chi-square tests.
There was not statistically significant difference between two groups in terms of postpartum blues at 1st day after delivery (P=0.084). While mean of postpartum blues had significant difference in case and control groups on the 4th (P=0.001) and 10th (P=0.034) after delivery, meaning that mean of postpartum blues on the 4th and 10th after delivery was lower in case group than control group.
The infant massage was effective for decreasing postpartum blues severity. Since infant massage it is useful and cost free method to decrease postpartum blues, it is recommended to mothers that perform it after delivery to improve maternal psychological health.