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Evidence summaries

Massage for Pain Management in Labour

Massage may be effective for pain management in first stage of labour compared with usual care. Level of evidence: "C"

The quality of evidence is downgraded by study limitations (unclear allocation concealment, no blinding) and by imprecise results (few patients).

Summary

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 10 studies with a total of 1055 subjects. Less pain during labour was reported from massage compared with usual care during the first stage of labour (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.81, 95% CI -1.06 to -0.56; 6 trials, n=362). Other comparisons of massage gave inconclusive results. One trial of massage compared with usual care found reduced anxiety during the first stage of labour (MD -16.27, 95% CI -27.03 to -5.51; n=60).

Clinical comments

Note

Date of latest search:2018-05-02

References

  • Smith CA, Levett KM, Collins CT et al. Massage, reflexology and other manual methods for pain management in labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2018;3():CD009290. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords