Gynecology & Obstetrics
Open Access

Abstract

Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) on Labor Pain and the Duration of First Stage of Labor

Smita Elizabeth Joseph*, Annamma Thomas, Rita Mhaskar and John Michael

Purpose: Labor pain is caused by contraction of the uterine muscles and the pressure of the baby’s presenting part on the cervix. The effective management of labor pain plays a decisive role in the labor outcome indicating the need for a non-pharmacological therapy to manage labor pain.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 300 pregnant women at low antenatal risk who anticipated full term vaginal delivery in a tertiary care hospital in Urban South India. During the active phase of first stage of labor, the women in the experimental group received TENs which was increased in intensity with the increase in pain and the women in the control group received TENS at baseline intensity. Both groups of women received the routine obstetric care. The primary outcome measure was intensity of labor pain assessed using the Visual Analog Scale at 3 cm-4 cm of cervical dilatation and at full cervical dilatation. An independent sample t-test compared the mean VAS scores and labor duration between groups. A Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables between the groups.

Results: The experimental group (n=150) had statistically significantly lower mean VAS scores at full cervical dilatation than the control group (n=150) (p<0.001) and a statistically significant shorter duration of the active labor phase than the control group (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that TENS can be used as a non-pharmacological therapy to reduce pain perception and to shorten the active phase of first stage of labor.

Published Date: 2024-07-25; Received Date: 2024-06-10