Background: Childbirth is an anxiety-producing situation for many women and pain is a major concern during labor. Comfort measures help the women to cope with the pain and were considered essential. The term labor support refers to continuous non-medical care of laboring women. It includes physical comforting such as back massage, deep breathing exercise, and positioning.
Objective: The objectives of the study was: (1) To assess the effectiveness of labor support measures by comparing the pain score of mothers with first stage of labor in experimental and control groups and (2) to get the verbal response of mothers in experimental group after 2 h of delivery about the effectiveness of labor support measures.
Materials and Methods: A quantitative approach with quasi-experimental with multiple time series design was used to study the effectiveness of labor support measures on pain perception of mothers in labor. Sixty mothers in labor were selected using non-probability consecutive sampling technique and randomly assigned into two groups, i.e., experimental group (n = 30) and control group (n = 30). A demographic questionnaire, numerical pain intensity scale, and verbal response questionnaire to assess the effectiveness of labor support measures were used to collect the data. Intervention was given to the experimental group, i.e., labor support measures such as left lateral position, deep breathing exercise, and sacral (back) massage provided during the first stage of labor. The post-test was conducted after 4 weeks. Pre-interventional pain perception was assessed using numeric pain intensity scale after that researcher administered LSM continuously to the mothers during the first stage of labor and assessed the pain perception at 30 min, 60 min, 90 min, and 120 min, during the first stage of labor. 2 h after the delivery, question on effectiveness of LSM asked to the mothers in experimental group.
Results: There was a significant difference in experimental and control groups. F = 3.931 is more than F (1, 58) P < 0.05 = 1.534 to table value which shows that it was statistically significant at 0.05 levels.
Conclusion: Thus, it concludes that labor support measures were effective in reducing the labor pain.
Key words: Labor Support Measures; Labor; Mothers; Pain
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