Abdominal effleurage – a non pharmacological labour pain control measure

Among laboring women, 30-70% experiences extreme level of pain. It is also found that about 31.7% have experienced back pain along with labour pain. Treating pain is important, because coping with pain influences the birthing experiences. There are many types of non- pharmacological methods of pain control, among those methods, massage has a potential benefits such as reducing the pain intensity, decreases muscle spasm and increasing physical activity. Effleurage is a therapy which includes deep or light stroke by using flat surface of hand over abdomen of laboring women which is usually repeated for several times over the same area on the abdomen. The physical benefits of effleurage which includes by stimulating blood supply to the tissues and facilitate in cleansing of the skin; relaxing muscle fibers and decreasing muscle tension. This method can be used for all women with labour pain.