Reflexology and Labour
It’s not too often a new study is published on the benefits of Reflexology. Still, every quarter I get a copy of the International Therapist magazine which always has many interesting articles on research and developments in the area of holistic therapies. This time I was excited to read about a study into the effects of ‘Antenatal reflexology and pregnancy and labour outcomes’ by Dr Julie McCullough. As a reflexologist and scientist, Dr McCullough followed her interest in pregnancy and maternity care. McCullough joined an established research team at Ulster University investigating pregnancy-related low back pain and pelvic girdle pain (LBPGP), a condition experienced by between 66% and 71% of women during pregnancy, with 20% to 65% experiencing PGP. This condition can continue up to 10 years after the pregnancy with varying degrees of mobility and pain.
McCullough carried out the study over two years, between 2012 -2014. The participants in the study were 90 first-time mums who were experiencing LBPGP. The participants were split into three groups and were given treatment in the 3rd trimester for a 6-week period:
Group 1 – Received a 30-minute reflexology session for six weeks in along with usual antenatal care
Group 2 – Had the sham treatment, which was a 30-minute footbath treatment
Group 3 – Received the usual antenatal care for LBPGP.
The pain and frequency threshold was measured on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale from 0-10cm. Each participant also gave saliva samples at the beginning and end of the six weeks to measure stress hormones, *cortisol and *beta-endorphin.
The Results of the study
A total of 64 women completed the study, 24 in the reflexology group, 15 in the footbath group and 25 in the usual care group. During the six weeks, the LBPGP frequency increased for the participants having the footbath treatment whilst the usual care group reduced by 0.63cm on the VAS scale and the reflexology group reduced by 1.63 cm (Close et al. 2015). A change of 1.5cm or more on the VAS pain scale is classified as a clinically important change (Ostelo et al., 2008; Gallagher et al., 2001), which means it is significant to the patient. (Farrar et al., 2000)
Over the six weeks, it was found that *Beta-endorphin levels increased by 8.8% for the foot bath group and 10.1% for the usual care group. In the reflexology group, the beta-endorphin levels were reduced by 15.2%. Cortisol increased by 31.8% in the footpath group, 31.4% In the usual care group and 18.8% in the Reflexology group.
Labour data was collected for the 2nd stage of labour, considered more accurate than the 1st stage. It was found in 2nd stage labour was 44 minutes shorter in the reflexology group compared with the usual care and the foot bath group.
Points to consider
From the results, we can take away the following; Reflexology has helped reduce pain significantly for participants of the study, and beta-endorphin levels and 2nd stage labour have also been reduced considerably.
However, as always, studies of this kind are small and more participants would make the results more compelling. Further studies of this kind to cross-reference and ts would be welcomed. It’s important to note that the results of this study do not guarantee that the benefits of Reflexology will be the same or similar for everyone. Finally, McCullough identifies we now know Reflexology affects hormone production in pregnant women. Research needs to be done to find out ‘why’ and ‘how’ Reflexology affects hormone levels.
*Beta-endorphins are released to counteract pain felt in the body.
*Cortisol is a steroid hormone which controls blood sugar levels, controls salt and water balance, acts as an anti-inflammatory, influences blood pressure and helps the development of the foetus.
Reference: International Therapist Magazine Spring 2018 Issue 124
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