The Effect of Oral Date Syrup on Severity of Labor Pain in Nulliparous

Abstract

Background: Labor is painful phenomenon and management of labor pain has particular importance. For labor pain management pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are used, but today there is a tendency for using alternative and complementary medicine. Consumption of nutrients and hydration is also one of the ways of pain management during labor. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of oral administration of palm syrup on the labor pain of nulliparous women. Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial. In this study, 80 healthy nulliparous women were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups of the control group and palm syrup. The intervention group received palm syrup while the control group received only water routinely. Interventions in both groups continued during the active phase until the transitional phase. Data were collected by four main parts of the demographic questionnaire, controls carried out in labor, recording the fluid intake rate, and recording the pain using a ruler as 10 - 0 cm. Results: The mean pain intensity was significantly lower in intervention group of the palm syrup than the control group. Conclusions: The use of palm syrup had a significant impact on labor pain. Given the importance of evidence-based research and its usage in practice, conducting more studies are necessary in these areas.