Lavender aromatherapy massages in reducing labor pain and duration of labor: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Labor pain is a challenging issue for midwifes and designing intervention protocols. Aromatherapy is one of the non-pharmacological methods for pain relief and Lavendula has analgesic properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy massage with Lavender oil. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled trial that was conducted in 2008 at Mahdeeh Hospital of Tehran University, Tehran, Iran. The subjects included N=60 primiparous women in 38-42 week gestational age, who were expected to have a normal delivery. They were randomly assigned to two groups. The first group received only massage (n=30) and the second group received aromatherapy massage with Lavender oil (n=30). The intensity of pain was measured with the visual analogue scale (VAS). Results showed that pain intensity before and after intervention were significantly lower in the lavender aromatherapy massage group in the latent and active phase, and they had a lower duration of first and second stage of labor. Hence, aromatherapy massage was helpful, providing pain relief and psychological support during labor. This finding suggests that lavender aromatherapy massage is a cost-effective midwifery intervention that can decrease pain and duration of the first and second stages of labor.