The effectiveness on labor anxiety of essential oil massage in first-time mothers

Background: The first childbirth experience is an exceptionally anxious event for couples. Caregivers have pointed to increased psychological and physical anxiety during labor pains. Aromatherapy has been cited by many articles in the literature for its ability to mitigate the psychosomatic symptoms of labor and improve physical and psychological well-being. Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of essential oil massage in improving the overall condition of women in the intra-natal period during labor. Methods: This study applied a quasi-experimental design and purposive sampling method. Fifty-two participants were recruited from a teaching hospital in eastern Taiwan and assigned randomly to experiment (n=26) and control groups (n=26). Participants in the experiment group received massage with essential oils and participants in the control group received massage with carrier oils. The duration of massage in these two groups was 15 minutes in total. Data were collected four times, as follows: (1) before the massage, (2) immediately after the massage, (3) 30 minutes after the massage, and (4) 60 minutes after the massage. The visual analogue scale of anxiety and Philips M1165A biophysical monitor were employed to measure heartbeat, blood pressure, and blood oxygen saturation in participants. Results: Findings showed that, 30 minutes after receiving massage with essential oils, the experiment group reported significantly less anxiety and had significantly increased oxygen saturation and decreased diastolic pressure levels as compared with the control group. Applying massage with essential oils can decrease labor anxiety levels during firsttime labor. Researchers found no significant differences in other physiological indicators between the two groups. Conclusions: The results from this study support massage with essential oils as an alternative approach to relieving anxiety in women in the intra-natal period during labor.