• Faranak Safdari Dehcheshmeh and Hossein Rafiei.
• Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
• Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2015 Nov 1; 21 (4): 229-32.

Background & AimPain is a common experience for women during labor. In the present study, we compared the effect of two types of non-pharmacological pain relief methods "music therapy" and "Hoku point ice massage" on the severity of labor pain.MethodsThis prospective, randomized, controlled trial was conducted in Shahrekord, Iran, from September 2013 to June 2014. We randomly assigned 90 primiparous women who expected a normal childbirth into three groups: group "A" received music therapy, group "B" received Hoku point ice massage, and group "C" received usual labor care. At the beginning of the active phase (4 cm cervical dilation) and before and after each intervention (at dilations 4, 6, and 8 cm), the intensities of labor pain were measured using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).ResultsAt the beginning of the active phase, the mean VAS scores were 5.58 ± 1.29, 5.42 ± 1.31, and 6.13 ± 1.37 in the women in groups "A," "B," and "C," respectively (P > 0.05). After the intervention, the mean pain scores were significantly lower at all of the time points in groups "A" and "B" than in group "C" women (P < 0.05). Although the pain scores showed a more decreasing trend after the intervention in group "A" than that in group "B," the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).ConclusionsMusic therapy and Hoku point ice massage are easily available and inexpensive methods and have a similar effect in relieving labor pain.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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