Effects of Reiki Intervention During Labor on Pain, Fear, and Birth Experience

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

reiki: Before the intervention, when their cervical dilatation is 4-5 cm, EC-1, EC-2 and EC-3 will be applied to pregnant women in all groups. After the initial data collection, the researcher TC will apply reiki for approximately 15-20 minutes to pregnant women in the reiki group with cervical dilatation of 4-5 cm. Immediately after the first intervention, the second EC-2 and EC-3 measurements will be performed. The third EC-2 and EC-3 measurements will be performed when the cervical dilatation is 6-7 cm and then the fourth EC-2 and EC-3 measurements will be performed after 15 minutes of reiki application. The fifth EC-2 and EC-3 measurements will be performed when the cervical dilatation is 8-9 cm, followed by 15 minutes of reiki and the sixth EC-2 and EC-3 measurements. The final data will be collected one hour after delivery of the placenta with a seventh VAS measurement and administration of the EC-4. The EC-4 will also be reassessed by the researchers online at six weeks postpartum

Study summary

Childbirth is an important and often stressful experience for many women, and labor pain is common among women. While labor pain is a natural part of the birth process, its severity and management can have a significant impact on an expectant mother's overall health and birth experience. Studies examining the effects of Reiki on alleviating the pain and fear experienced by pregnant women during labor are limited. In this context, understanding the effects of Reiki practices in the birth process may be important for both clinical practice and future research.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• labour pain — 5 hours
  reduction of labor pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (Annex-2): Visual Analog Scale (VAS) is a scale developed by Price et al. in 1983 and used to measure pain intensity and for pain monitoring. The VAS is 10 cm long and the two ends are named differently. On the scale, '0' indicates no pain and '10' indicates the most severe level of pain. VAS is a measurement tool that is frequently and reliably used to assess labor pain (Price et al., 1983; Mutlu \& Özkaya, 2021). VAS measurement data will be used to test hypothesis H1. After the primiparous pregnant women included in the study were assigned to the reiki intervention and control groups, the scale will be applied to measure the pretest data when the cervical opening was 4-5 cm before any intervention was applied and to ensure pain equivalence in the groups.

Trial sites (1)

More Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa trials in Turkey

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