Lavender aromatherapy helpful for management of anxiety in postpartum cesarean section

Background: Cesarean section (CS) is a labor process that can have various impacts; physically it will cause pain in the abdomen and psychologically will have an impact on fear and anxiety. Continued anxiety can lead to stress, postpartum blues, and even psychosis. Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of lavender aroma therapy on anxiety levels in postpartum CS mothers at Panembahan Senopati Bantul Hospital, Yogyakarta. Materials and Methods: This research is a quantitative study using a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test approach non-equivalent control group design which was conducted in August 2020–October 2020. The population of this study were all postpartum women with CS who were treated in the Alamanda 3 ward at Panembahan Senopati Hospital, Bantul, with an average of 56 patients per month. The sample in this study was 30 respondents with postpartum CS, taken by consecutive sampling technique. Data collection tools were the Zung Self Rating Anxiety Scale questionnaire and interviews statistical test using Wilcoxon. Results: Most of the postpartum mothers with CS had anxiety in the mild category as many as 19 people (63.3%) and moderate as many as 11 people (36.7%). After giving lavender aromatherapy, the level of mild anxiety was 30 people (100%). There is a difference in the average level of postpartum maternal anxiety CS before and after giving lavender aromatherapy with the mean value before aromatherapy is 41.36 and after aromatherapy is 28.26, with a P-value of 0.000 (P < 0.05). Conclusions: There is an effect before and after giving lavender aromatherapy to postpartum anxiety in CS in Alamanda 3 RSUD Panembahan Senopati Bantul.