Comparing the Effects of Hot Shower and Intravenous Injection of Hyoscine on the Pain Intensity and Duration of Active Phase of Labour in Nulliparous Women

Abstract

Introduction: Parturition is a painful process and one of midwives’ duties is to reduce the pain during labour. Aim: To compare the effect of hot shower and intravenous injection of hyoscine on the pain severity and duration of active phase of labour (primary outcomes) and adverse events during intervention (secondary outcomes) in nulliparous women. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled study was conducted in which 162 nulliparous women were assigned into 3 groups. The first group (n=53) received hyoscine, the second group (n=55) received hot shower, and the control group (n=54) received routine care. Pain intensity was measured once every hour during the active phase of labour by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and duration of active phase was recorded. One-way analysis of variance test and general linear model were used to compare active phase duration and pain intensity, respectively. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in terms of socio-demographic characteristics in all groups (p>0.05). According to general linear model, by adjusting the baseline values, average pain intensity in hot shower group was significantly less than control group (adjusted mean difference=-1.1; 95% Confidence Interval=-1.6 to -0.6) and hyoscine group (-1.3; -1.8 to -0.8). The mean duration of active phase of labour was 221.2±87.2 minutes in hyoscine group, 201.9±147.4 minutes in hot shower group and 312.6±198.0 minutes in control group. There was statistically significant difference among groups (p<0.001). Conclusion: Using hot shower as a non-pharmacological method reduces the pain and the duration of active phase of labour. Therefore, we believed that the use of this method should be advisable for all women in labour.

Keywords

• childbirth
• iran
• parturition
• randomized controlled trial