The effect of combination of psychological counseling and acupressure training with couple therapy approach on nausea and vomiting in pregnancy

Abstract

Introduction: Nausea and vomiting is one of the most common complains during pregnancy, which often occur as one of the first signs of pregnancy after the first rebound of the menstrual period. There is a strong pattern of depression, anxiety, and stress in women with severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Many women become physically, socially and psychologically isolated and their quality of life is affected. This study was performed with aim to investigate the effect of combination of psychological counseling and acupressure with couple therapy approach on the severity and duration of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. Methods: This clinical trial was performed on 92 pregnant women with gestational age of 6 to 10 weeks and on their husbands in 2016. For the intervention group, in addition to the routine prenatal care, three 90 minutes sessions of psychological counseling and acupressure were held; but the control group only received routine prenatal care. Then, data were collected before and after the intervention by Rhodes index. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 22) and Chi-square, one-way ANOVA and covariance analysis. p <0.005 was considered significant. Results: The severity and duration of nausea and vomiting significantly decreased in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0.001). Conclusion: The combination of psychological counseling and acupressure can reduce the duration and severity of nausea and vomiting.

Keywords

• acupressure
• counseling
• nausea and vomiting
• pregnancy