Effect of Warm and Cold Acupressure Applied to the LI4 Acupressure Point on Childbirth Comfort During Labor: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Context: Labor pain is considered one of the most well-known types of severe pain. For this reason, non-pharmacological methods employed for managing labor pain are necessary to help pregnant women cope with labor pain and increase their childbirth comfort. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of cold and warm acupressure applied to the LI4 acupressure point on childbirth comfort in primiparous women during labor. Design: This study was designed as a randomized controlled experimental trial. Setting: The study was conducted between August 2020 and March 2021 at 2 hospitals in northern Turkey offering similar maternity services. Participants: The sample consisted of 129 healthy pregnant women: 44 in the warm acupressure group, 44 in the cold acupressure group and 41 in the control group. Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. The researcher applied cold or warm acupressure pouches, respectively, on the women in the 2 experimental groups on the LI4 acupressure point for 10 minutes during the active and transition phases of labor. The application was suspended for 1 hour, and then repeated 3 more times. No acupressure was administered in the control group. Outcome Measures: The Personal Information Form (PIF), Labor Monitoring Form (LMF), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Childbirth Comfort Questionnaire (CCQ) were used to gather study data. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between both the intergroup and intra-group pain scores in the experimental and control groups (P < .05) and childbirth comfort scores in the experimental and control groups in terms of groups and timing (P < .05). Conclusion: In this study, both warm and cold acupressure were found to alleviate labor pain. The warm acupressure, in particular, had a more positive effect on childbirth comfort. Thus, warm and cold acupressure can be recommended to relieve labor pain and increase childbirth comfort.

The effects of conventional, warm and cold acupressure on the pain perceptions and beta-endorphin plasma levels of primiparous women in labor: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to determine the impact of different acupressure procedures, performed on women's hands during labor, on ß-endorphin plasma levels and labor pain perception. DESIGN: Randomized controlled experimental trial SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This study was conducted with 140 pregnant women in the delivery rooms of a university research and training hospital and a state hospital in a province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. METHODS: This study was conducted with three experimental groups (who had conventional, warm and cold acupressure on their LI4 acupressure point) and one control group (no acupressure). Each group included 35 pregnant women. The data were collected using a personal information form, the Labor Intervention Follow-up Form, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Verbal Category Scale (VCS). Its main outcomes were the women's labor pain perceptions and ß-endorphin plasma levels. RESULTS: The experimental and control groups had homogeneous introductory characteristics. The experimental groups had significantly higher mean VAS and VCS posttest scores than the control group (p<0.001). The experimental groups' mean posttest ß-endorphin plasma levels were also significantly higher (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, conventional, warm and cold acupressure reduced the women's labor pain and increased their ß-endorphin plasma levels. Midwives can use acupressure to reduce labor pain.