Burns E E, Blamey C, Ersser S J, Barnetson L, Lloyd A J
Oxford Centre for Health Care Research and Development Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom.
J Altern Complement Med. 2000 Apr;6(2):141-7. doi: 10.1089/acm.2000.6.141.
The principal aim of the study was to examine the contribution of aromatherapy to the promotion of maternal comfort during labor and as a tool to improve the quality of midwifery care.
Evaluative study.
Delivery suite in a large British teaching hospital with approximately 6,500 deliveries per annum.
A total of 8,058 mothers were evaluated between 1990 and 1998.
Women were offered aromatherapy to relieve anxiety, pain, nausea and/or vomiting or to strengthen contractions. Routine data collected on the use of aromatherapy over the period were analyzed. Data from the unit audit were used to provide a comparison group of mothers not given aromatherapy (n = 15,799) from the study center.
Outcome measures include mothers' ratings of effectiveness, outcomes of labor, use of pharmacologic pain relief, uptake of intravenous oxytocin, reported associated symptoms, and annual costs.
The use of aromatherapy during childbirth was an increasingly popular care option with mothers and midwives. More than 50% of mothers rated it as helpful, and only 14% found it unhelpful. The use of aromatherapy was not confined to low-risk mothers. Sixty percent of the sample were primigravidae, and 32% overall had had their labor induced. The administration of aromatherapy in childbirth did appear to reduce the need for additional pain relief in a proportion of mothers. More than 8% of primigravidae and 18% of multigravidae used no conventional pain relief during labor after using essential oils. During the years of the study, the use of pethidine in the study center declined from 6% to 0.2% of women. The study also showed that aromatherapy may have the potential to augment labor contractions for women in dysfunctional labour. A very low number of associated adverse symptoms were reported (1%).
This study represents a successful example of the integration of a complementary therapy into mainstream midwifery practice and forms a basis for future research.
本研究的主要目的是探讨芳香疗法对促进产妇分娩时舒适感的作用，以及作为提高助产护理质量的一种手段。
评估性研究。
英国一家大型教学医院的分娩套房，每年约有6500例分娩。
1990年至1998年间共评估了8058名母亲。
为产妇提供芳香疗法以缓解焦虑、疼痛、恶心和/或呕吐，或增强宫缩。分析了该期间收集的关于芳香疗法使用情况的常规数据。研究中心单位审计的数据用于提供未接受芳香疗法的母亲对照组（n = 15799）。
观察指标包括母亲对疗效的评分、分娩结局、药物止痛的使用情况、静脉注射缩宫素的使用情况、报告的相关症状以及年度成本。
分娩时使用芳香疗法在母亲和助产士中越来越成为一种受欢迎的护理选择。超过50%的母亲认为它有帮助，只有14%的母亲认为它没有帮助。芳香疗法的使用并不局限于低风险产妇。样本中有60%是初产妇，总体上有32%的产妇引产。分娩时使用芳香疗法似乎确实在一定比例的母亲中减少了额外止痛的需求。超过8%的初产妇和18%的经产妇在使用精油后分娩期间未使用常规止痛方法。在研究期间，研究中心哌替啶的使用比例从6%下降到了0.2%。研究还表明，芳香疗法可能有潜力增强宫缩乏力女性的宫缩。报告的相关不良症状数量非常少（1%）。
本研究是将一种补充疗法整合到主流助产实践中的成功范例，为未来的研究奠定了基础。
