Özet:

Background: Labor pain is one of the most intense pain women experience in her lifetime. There are various invasive and noninvasive forms of pain relief available for women during labor to ease the discomfort. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a nonpharmacological form of physiotherapeutic modality to relieve pain during labor. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of TENS on pain relief during first stage of labor in primiparous women. Method: A total of 30 primiparous women were selected for the study. The subjects were randomized into either the experimental (TENS group) or control group. The women during labor were monitored thoroughly one hour once on the following parameters such as maternal heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, fetal heart rate, and CTG. The laboring women in the experimental group were attached with maternal TENS unit once their cervix is 4 cm dilated. The TENS was applied in with two pairs of electrodes in the paraspinal region of the lower thoracic and sacral spines. The outcome measure was pain intensity which was measured using visual analogue scale before the application of TENS and 1 hour after the TENS application. Results: The total number of patients were equally divided into experimental and control group. The TENS group obtained clinically significant pain relief 'p' < 0.01. One woman in the TENS group had cesarean section but 5 women in the control group had cesarean section. Only one woman in the TENS group stated that there was not much pain relief with TENS after 3 hours of application. Conclusion: This pilot study concludes that TENS can be used as a effective pain relieving modality to ease labor pain during first stage of labor in primiparous women.

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