Alexander Technique on Labor Pain and Anxiety

February 16, 2024 updated by: Marmara University

The Effect of the Alexander Technique on Labor Pain and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study will examine the effect of the Alexander Technique on labor pain and anxiety during labor. This study is designed as a randomized controlled experimental study. The population of the study consists of primiparous pregnant women who applied to Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital, D-Block Maternity Hospital between November 2023 and May 2024. In calculating the sample size, G*Power (3.1.9.6) program was used to calculate the sample size with an error of 0.05, effect level of 0.5, power of 95%, and the required sample size for 2 groups was calculated as 34 people for each group with a total of 68 people.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Pain during childbirth has been described as the most severe pain women experience throughout their life course. Labor pain is a result of physiologic changes in the uterus. Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic methods are used in the management of pain, which is a physiologic process. Nonpharmacological methods help women to feel comfortable in labor and contribute to women to have a positive birth experience by providing relaxation and reducing pain perception through cognitive, psychological and physical methods (Adil et al., 2020; Thompson et al. 2019). In addition, midwives who are with the woman during the birth process use non-pharmacological methods in an independent role in the management of labor pain, and this is also effective in alleviating the burden on current health expenditures. Alexander Technique appears as a non-pharmacologic method. In the literature, there is no study on the application of the Alexander Technique in the management of labor pain. It is assumed that the current posture and position to be provided with the Alexander Technique will be effective on pain and anxiety during the birth process. It is necessary to conduct studies on the use of the Alexander Technique in the birth process and evaluate the results.

This study will be the first study on the Alexander Technique to be applied to women in labor. The research to be conducted is planned as a randomized controlled experimental study. The population of the study consists of 68 primiparous pregnant women who applied to Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital, D-Block Maternity Hospital between November 2023 and May 2024. Simple random sampling method will be used for the sample of the study. Pregnant women included in the study will be informed about the study and 'Informed Consent Form' and 'Voluntary Consent Form' will be filled. 'Personal Information Form', 'Visual Analog Scale (VAS)', 'Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS)' and 'Oxford Birth Anxiety Scale (OWLS)' will be applied to the pregnant women included in the experimental group. After the initial data is collected, the principles in the Alexander Technique will be applied when the woman's cervical dilatation is 0-4 cm. The duration of the application is approximately 15 minutes and the researcher will take an active role with the woman accompanied by a counselor during this period. The second application will be applied when the cervical dilatation is 5-7 cm and the third application will be applied when the cervical dilatation is 8-10 cm. 'Visual Analog Scale (VAS)' will be applied after each application. 'Visual Analog Scale (VAS)', 'Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS)' and 'Oxford Birth Anxiety Scale (OWLS)' will be applied at the 2nd hour after delivery.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

68

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
      • Istanbul, Turkey
        • Recruiting
        • Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Volunteer to participate in the study,
  • Between the ages of 18-35,
  • Primiparous and singleton pregnant,
  • Women at term (between 37 and 41 weeks of gestation) will be included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Risky pregnancies,
  • Women who become pregnant as a result of assisted reproductive techniques,
  • Delivery by caesarean section,
  • Wanting to leave without working,
  • Women undergoing analgesia at any stage of the labor process will be excluded from the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental group
The application of the Alexander Technique to the women included in the experimental group will be created by providing body awareness by directing their current posture and movements in line with three principles. In this way, self-management of the birth process in primiparous women will be established. In order to develop the body awareness of the primiparous woman, the Alexander Technique will be applied with the training program created by the researcher in line with the three principles.
Other: Experimental group
Alexander technique will be applied to the experimental group.
Other: Conventional group
The conventional (control group) will receive routine midwifery care during the birth process. Routine midwifery care includes follow-up of the pregnant woman and the baby and uninterrupted midwife support during the birth process.
Other: Experimental group
Alexander technique will be applied to the experimental group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Decreasing labor pain
Time Frame: During labor, the first assessment will be performed when cervical dilatation is 0-4 cm, the second assessment when cervical dilatation is 5-7 cm and the third assessment when cervical dilatation is 8-10 cm.
Alexander Technique applied in labor pain management has a decreasing effect on labor pain.
During labor, the first assessment will be performed when cervical dilatation is 0-4 cm, the second assessment when cervical dilatation is 5-7 cm and the third assessment when cervical dilatation is 8-10 cm.
Decreasing anxiety
Time Frame: During labor, the first assessment will be performed when cervical dilatation is 0-4 cm, the second assessment when cervical dilatation is 5-7 cm and the third assessment when cervical dilatation is 8-10 cm.
The Alexander Technique applied in labor pain management has a reducing effect on anxiety during labor.
During labor, the first assessment will be performed when cervical dilatation is 0-4 cm, the second assessment when cervical dilatation is 5-7 cm and the third assessment when cervical dilatation is 8-10 cm.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Marmara University

Collaborators

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 5, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 2, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 9, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 9, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

February 16, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 20, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 16, 2024

Last Verified

February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MarmaraU-Ebe-ZDY-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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