The Effects of Whole Body Prenatal Massage Therapy During Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Experimental Trial

Summary

Background: Massage therapy in many parts of the world is used in all periods of pregnancy.

Aim: The study aimed to determine the effect of massage therapy during pregnancy on women and their fetuses in a university hospital in Izmir, Turkey.

Method: A randomized controlled experimental trial was aimed to reach primipara pregnant women, 20-35 years old, who came to a university obstetric clinic to get the results of the first-trimester screen test. Researchers aimed to reach 30 pregnant women at the start of the study. Participants were randomly allocated to a parallel comparison group by a central office. The sampling technique has been applied according to the CONSORT criteria.

The study practices have been carried out after receiving ethics committee and institution approvals after the researcher completed the prenatal massage therapy training, and after taking the voluntary informed consent of the pregnant women. The practices have been carried out in the massage office that was formed within the scope of the study. Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM), BPP, vital signs, fetal heart rate (FHR) evaluation have been carried out for the pregnants whose routine gestational monitoring went on during their gestational week between the 30th and 34th in the control group, and Pregnant Description Form, VAS, Prenatal Attachment Inventory-PAI, Revised Prenatal Distress Questionnaire-PDQ have been applied. In the prenatal massage therapy group, between the 30th and 34th weeks, each week for five weeks, prenatal massage therapy including a 60 minutes deep tissue and Sweden massage methods had been applied once a week. Side-Lying Positioning System that is designed specifically for the pregnant has been used during the practices. In addition, the reason why the study group consisted of pregnant women in these weeks; Perinatology specialists recommend women to experience a deep and sustainable level of relaxation for 45-60 minutes before falling asleep, especially in the last 6-8 weeks of pregnancy, in preparation for labour (Osborne et al. 2021). In line with this suggestion, since the whole body massage has been performed in the research method, a 60-minute massage (30 minutes for each lateral position) has been applied.

Conditions

• Massage Therapy
• Pregnancy Related
• Fetus Fetus

Interventions

OTHER

Prenatal massage therapy

Pregnant women in the intervention group had a whole body prenatal massage therapy every week between 30th and 34th gestational weeks (once a week, 5-weeks in total and 60-minutes each).Session content for the prenatal massage therapy group was created by the researcher who was 640-hours trained massaging midwife.It included 12 different massage techniques (Osborne 2015, Osborne 2021).Also, the session, which included deep tissue and Sweden massage methods, had been applied.Each session began with the pregnant woman in a side-lying position with standart special pillows (30-minutes for left, 30-minutes for right).EFM, BPP, vital signs, FHR evaluation were carried out for all participants per visiting the hospital for the study.BPP before and after prenatal massage therapy was evaluated by an obstetrician.A phone number was set for the study, and this phone number was used by the massaging midwife.The service has been provided for pregnant women to reach her whenever they want.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ege University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

20 Years

Max Age

35 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-10-24

Primary Completion

2017-08-08

Completion

2017-11-08

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations