The Effect of LI4 Acupressure on Labor Pain Intensity and Duration of Labor: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of LI4 acupressure on labor pain and duration during the first stage of labor. METHODS Parturient women (n=149) with singleton pregnancies in the active phase of spontaneous labor, without any medical or obstetric problems, were enrolled in this single-blinded, randomized, clinical trial. Participants were placed into one of three groups: an LI4 acupressure group, a touching group, and a control group in which no pharmacological or non-pharmacological methods of pain relief were used. Pain intensity was measured by visual analog scale before and after the intervention in the first stage of labor. Pressure or touch was applied for 30 minutes during uterine contractions. RESULTS The difference in the pain scores between the acupressure and control group was statistically significant (p<0.001) but there was no statistically significant (p=0.942) difference in the duration of the first stage of labor between the three groups. CONCLUSION Acupressure is an effective, non-invasive, and easily applicable technique to reduce labor pain.