Does Reflexology Reduce Birth Pain? A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objectives: In this systematic review, we aim to evaluate the efficacy of foot reflexology method on pain intensity of labor. Material-Method: The study was done in the second half of 2019 PubMed (MEDLINE), CINAHL (EBSCO), Scopus, Science Citation Index, Science Direct, ULAKBIM (Turkish National Databases) databases were searched using terms and keywords including ‘labor pain’ ‘vaginal delivery’ ‘normal delivery’ ‘pregnancy and delivery’ ‘reflexology’ ‘foot massage’ ‘pain and reflexology’ in three languages. Results: Out of a total of 3292 articles found from databases, 9 articles that had inclusion criteria were included in the study. Studies have shown that foot reflexology during labor reduces the severity of labor pain. Conclusions: Performing foot reflexology as one of the low-risk and low-cost methods of pain relief can be an effective method in reducing pain and duration of labor. It is recommended that more adequately powered studies be done in this area.