Effect of Different Relaxation Methods on Pregnancy and Childbirth: a Systematic Review

Introduction: Relaxation is a set of neuromuscular exercises that helps the mothers to go through pregnancy and different stages of labor with minimal complications. Various studies have been performed on the effect of different relaxation methods on problems and disorders in pregnancy and childbirth. The aim of this study was to systematically review the studies on the effects of various methods of relaxation in pregnancy and childbirth in Iran and the world. The IRCT Clinical Trial Registration Center and Keywords for Relaxation, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Maternity were searched from 2000 to 2020. Finally, 40 trials including 21 Persian articles and 19 Latin articles that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. There were 21 studies on relaxation during pregnancy and 19 studies on labor and postpartum. Studies have shown that the number of studies performed in the field of passive rest (in pregnancy-childbirth) was limited, but in the field of active rest and the simultaneous use of several types of rest (in pregnancy-childbirth) was numerous. Conclusion: The results showed that the use of progressive active muscle relaxation alone, due to its ease and comprehensibility can be used as a practical method in reducing problems and disorders during pregnancy and childbirth. therefore, the simultaneous use of several types of relaxation (active-inactive) due to the increase of positive effects of relaxation can be used in the next step.