Examination of Postgraduate Thesis Studies Assessing the Effectiveness of Non-Pharmacological Methods in the Management of Labor Pain

Aim: This study was conducted to examine postgraduate studies assessing the effect of non-pharmacological methods on labor pain in Turkey by using document analysis method. Material and Methods: To access postgraduate theses, “labor pain”, “non-pharmacological methods” and “pain management” keywords were used while scanning at the Database of National Thesis Center of Turkey. Nineteen studies assessing the effect of non-pharmacological methods on labor pain were reached. The theses were examined using document analysis method. Results: The theses were written between 1996 and 2017, 11 of them are master’s thesis, 7 of them are doctoral thesis and 1 of them is medical speciality thesis. The theses were mostly performed in Atatürk University, Marmara University and Istanbul University in the field of obstetrics and gynecology nursing in the counseling of associate professor. The accessibility of the five theses is limited, as the full text of 14 theses can be reached. All the theses examined are experimental studies with control groups. Non-pharmacological methods have been applied in the first phase of labor in all theses. When the non-pharmacological methods used are examined, it has been observed that hot application in two theses, ice application in two theses, acupressure with massage in one thesis, acupressure in three theses, aromatherapy in one thesis, expressive touch in one thesis, TENS in one thesis, reflexology in one thesis, breathing exercises in one thesis, breathing and tactile stimulation techniques in one thesis have been used. According to the results of theses examined, massage with hot application, acupressure, aromatherapy, expressive touch, TENS, reflexology, breathing exercises, breathing and tactile stimulation techniques have been found to reduce pain perception during labor. Conclusion: Postgraduate thesis studies examining the effect of non-pharmacologic methods on labor pain have been carried out mainly in the field of obstetrics and gynecology nursing, in the counseling of associate professor after 2000s. According to the results of these theses, it is seen that all methods except ice massage are effective in decreasing the labor pain