Comparison of the effect of pressure on bladder-GV20 and gallbladder-GV20 points on the ability to cope with labor pain among the primiparous women: A randomized clinical trial

  As a stressor, labor pain requires special coping strategies. Acupressure is one of these strategies that may be effective in coping with labor pain. This study aimed to compare the effect of pressure on bladder-GV20 and gallbladder-GV20 points on the ability to cope with labor pain among the nulliparous females. This single-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 158 primiparous women referring to Um Al-Benin Specialized Women Hospital, Mashhad, Iran in 2017. The subjects were randomly assigned to three groups of acupressure regarding the bladder points, namely (BL5-BL8-BL9) and GV20 (intervention 1), gallbladder (GB8-GB16–GB17-GB18) and GV20 (intervention 2), and the control group. The first stage of labor included five (4 min) and four (5 min) pressure cycles on acupressure points in bladder and gallbladder in the first and second groups, respectively. In the second stage of labor, one pressure cycle on the same points were applied. The control group only received the routine cares. The ability to cope with the labor pain was measured using the observational coping behavioral questionnaire with labor pain before the intervention and then every 30 minutes until the completion of the second stage of labor. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 25.0) using Fisher's exact test, one-way ANOVA, Tukey and non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test based on Dunn's approach with the Bonferroni and Friedman's correction. The P-value less than 0.05 was statistically significant. The results showed that the average scores of coping ability in the first and second stages of delivery were 16.5±1.9, 17.4±2.9 and 16.9 ± 2.2, 16.8 ± 2.2 in intervention groups one and two, respectively. There was a significant difference regarding the scores of the intervention groups and those of the control group (10.4±2.4, 12.0±2.7) (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed within the two intervention groups in terms of the scores of coping ability (P> 0.05). According to the findings of the study, pressure on bladder-GV20 and gallbladder-GV20 points can increase the levels of labor pain coping abilities in the first and second stages of labor. Therefore, this method can be recommended as a simple, non-invasive and complementary approach in labor.