The effect of labor dance on perceived labor pain, birth satisfaction, and neonatal outcomes

Abstract

Objective: This research was conducted to determine the effects of labor dance on perceived birth pain, birth satisfaction, and neonatal outcomes.

Design: This is an experimental study. Data were collected under three groups during the active phase of labor: the dance practitioner midwife group (DPMG, comprising 40 pregnant women), the dance practitioner spouse/partner group (DPSG, comprising 40 pregnant women) and the control group (CG, comprising 80 pregnant women).

Setting: This study was conducted between 1 April 2017 and 31 October 2017 in Turkey.

Participants: This study was administered on pregnant women volunteers with no risk during the active phase of labor.

Interventions: During the active phase, pregnant women in DPMG danced with the midwife; pregnant women in DPSG, on the other hand, danced with their spouses/partners throughout the active phase. When vaginal dilatation reached 4 cm and 9 cm, labor pain was measured by employing the visual analog scale (VAS). In the postpartum phase, newborn babies' first, fifth, and tenth minute Apgar scores and oxygen saturation levels were measured and registered. In the first hour after delivery, the Mackey Birth Satisfaction Scale was administered. CG, on the other hand, received only the routine procedures offered in the hospital.

Findings: The mean scores of VAS 1 and VAS 2 in DPSG and DPMG were lower than in CG. The fifth and tenth minute Apgar scores and the first, fifth, and tenth minute oxygen saturation levels of the newborns in the experimental groups, as well as the level of birth satisfaction, were significantly higher than in CG.

Key conclusions: The study showed a positive effect of labor dancing on the labor process.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04196660.

Keywords: Birth (delivery); Dance; Neonatal results; Pain; Satisfaction.