the effect of foot reflexology on the outcomes of labor on primiparous

the effect of foot reflexology on the outcomes of labor on primiparous moghimi hanjani s[1]*, mehdizadeh torzani z[2], shoghi m[3], ahmadi g[4] received: 20 may, 2012 accepted: 23aug, 2012 abstractbackground & aims: fear of labor pain is one of the problems that raises the rate of caesarean section in our country. midwifes can use one of the non-pharmacological pain relief methods such as reflexology, and they can encourage mothers to normal vaginal delivery. the aim of this study was to determine the effect of reflexology on the outcomes of labor in primiparous. materials & methods: this clinical trial study was carried out on 80 nuliparous women with low risk pregnancies that refer to karaj hospitals. they were randomized into two groups, intervention group received reflexology for 40 minutes, and control group. the duration of labor, type of delivery and apgar at 1&5 minutes were determined for both two groups. result: duration of labor in the intervention group significantly was lower than the control group (p<0. 001). the difference between type of delivery, the 1st and 5th minutes apgar score between two groups were different significantly (p<0. 001). conclusion: reflexology can lead to decrease duration of labor, increase rate of normal delivery and apgar score. therefore, we can use this non-invasive technique to decrease the labor pain and encourage mothers to normal vaginal delivery that is one of the aims of midwifery. key words: reflexology, duration of labor, type of delivery, apgar score, primiparous address: department of midwifery, faculty of nursing &midwifery;, karaj branch ,islamic azad university , moazen st,karaj, iran. tel: (+98)9123065092, (+9821)77204224email: soheila. moghimi@kiau. ac. ir [1] faculty member of midwifery, department of midwifery,karaj branch ,islamic azad university ,karaj, iran(corresponding author)  *[2] ms of midwifery , department of midwifery ,karaj branch ,islamic azad university ,karaj, iran[3] faculty member of nursing, department of nursing ,karaj branch ,islamic azad university ,karaj, iran[4] faculty member of midwifery, department of midwifery ,karaj branch ,islamic azad university ,karaj, iran