Use of Integrative and Complementary Health Practices by professionals in pregnant women with low back pain: integrative review

Abstract

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Integrative and Complementary Health Practices are proposed as possibilities of intervention for women in minimizing the effects of pregnancy and changes associated with this period, especially low back pain. There is a need for health professionals to increase their technical-scientific knowledge in the control of low back pain in pregnant women, as well as to start viewing them as a model of care to be practiced. This study’s objective was to analyze the use of integrative and complementary practices by health professionals in pregnant women with low back pain in the national and international literature. CONTENTS: Integrative review in which the search for articles was carried in the following databases: LILACS, BDENF, Scielo, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science. The descriptors Pregnant Women, Obstetrics, Low Back, Back Pain and Complementary Therapies were used in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Articles included should have been published from 2006 to 2019 and in the three languages mentioned. After reading the articles, twelve studies were included. With the analysis, two categories were listed: 1) Integrative and Complementary Health Practices used by professionals in pregnant women with back pain and 2) Professionals who use Integrative and Complementary Health Practices in pregnant women with back pain. CONCLUSION: The use of Integrative and Complementary Health Practices by professionals can provide new opportunities, greater knowledge, better assistance to pregnant women, their satisfaction and well-being during pregnancy. Such benefits may represent an advance in health promotion, with the potential to improve care.