The Effect of Sacral Massage and Sterile Water Injection During Childbirth on Pain Level and Birth Satisfaction (Satisfaction)

July 13, 2026 updated by: Hilal Guveri, Cumhuriyet University
Childbirth is a physiological, psychological, and social process. Ineffective management of lower back pain during labor reduces oxygen supply to the fetus, increasing hypoxia, distress, perinatal morbidity, and mortality rates. Non-pharmacological approaches such as massage, breathing techniques, sterile water injection, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, transcutaneous nerve stimulation, and acupressure are used to reduce pain during childbirth. Sterile Water Injection (SSI) is one of the non-pharmacological methods applied to reduce lower back pain during childbirth. Injecting sterile water into the skin acts as a pain stimulant that alters pain perception in women experiencing severe back and lower back pain during labor. SSI is considered an attractive and current method for reducing lower back pain during childbirth due to its lack of side effects and risk to the fetus. Sacral massage, on the other hand, is applied to pregnant women, usually in the form of back or sacral massage, to reduce pain perception and increase comfort during childbirth. The mechanism of action of both Sterile Water Injection and sacral massage applied to the sacral region is the same and bypasses the gate mechanisms expressed by gate control theory. It prevents the pain-causing agent from passing through the "door," thus preventing the pain stimulus from reaching consciousness. Sacral massage and sterile water injection applied during labor stimulate the central nervous system, causing a number of hormonal changes. Furthermore, the central nervous system stimulates oxytocin release, leading to mental detachment from pain and reduced anxiety. Therefore, women giving birth can tolerate pain better. Birth satisfaction is crucial for maintaining maternal and infant health. The provision of quality healthcare services is directly proportional to a positive birth experience and maternal satisfaction. Since sterile water injection and sacral massage are low-cost interventions with no side effects for the mother and fetus, they can be easily applied to alleviate labor pain among women giving birth. The literature shows a limited number of studies comparing sterile water injection and sacral massage in the sacral region during labor. This study will be conducted to determine the effect of sterile water injection and sacral massage applied to the sacral region on labor pain and satisfaction in pregnant women.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

104

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

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
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Being 19 years and older
  2. 38-42. being in the gestational week,
  3. Having a singleton pregnancy,
  4. Being nulliparous,
  5. Dilation of 6 cm or more (as it meets the active labor criterion),
  6. Having regular contractions,
  7. Not receiving oxytocin induction (for experimental groups),
  8. Absence of bleeding diathesis and pathology in coagulation tests,
  9. Fetus in vertex position,
  10. No history of EMR (Early Rupture of Membranes),
  11. Absence of a chronic disease,
  12. Absence of communication and perception problems,
  13. Voluntary participation in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Experiencing any complications during delivery,
  2. Having a history of using analgesic drugs to accelerate delivery

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: control group
Experimental: Sterile Water Injection group1
Sterile water is a pain stimulant that alters pain perception in women experiencing severe back and pelvic pain during childbirth, when injected into the skin.
Procedure: Sterile Water Injection
Intradermal or subcutaneous sterile water injection administered to the lumbar/sacral region to relieve severe back pain during labor.
Experimental: Sacral massage group 2
Sacral massage is applied to pregnant women, usually in the form of back or sacral massage, to the sacral region to reduce pain perception and increase comfort during childbirth.
Procedure: sacral press
Continuous manual pressure applied to the sacral area during labor contractions to alleviate back pain.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual analog scale (VAS) score for labor pain
Time Frame: During labor at 6 cm, and 10 cm of cervical dilations.
The VAS is a 10-cm horizontal line leadership tool used to measure pain intensity. Scores range from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain). Higher scores indicate more severe pain.
During labor at 6 cm, and 10 cm of cervical dilations.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Cumhuriyet University

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 23, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 28, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 25, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 30, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 13, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 13, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025-10/03

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be available to protect participant confidentiality.

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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