An Alternative Method for Labor Pain: Foot Reflexology

Nowadays reflexology that is used for many areas in notably United States of America andUnited Kingdom, Belgium and France has become very popular among midwifery and nursingprofessionals. It has been widely used for both protecting and improving health and palliatingsome disturbances. For instance; it has been frequently applied for palliating cancer painand side effects of chemotherapy, improving quality of life, strengthening immune system,regulating blood circulation, relieving anxiety, insomnia, constipation, menopausal symptoms,dysmenorrhea, and postpartum period discomfort and improving lactation. Enkephalines and endorphins are released in response to pressure and dermal exposure revealed by reflexology.By this way, neural transmission of pain signal to the brain is inhibited, pain and anxietylevels decrease and discard of toxins increases as a result of improved lymphatic and bloodcirculation. Reflexology also increases oxytocin secretion, shortens the duration betweencontractions, regulates the contractions, facilitates relaxation between contractions, andshortens the period during labor. In this sense, use of foot reflexology should be generalizedin obstetrics clinics as a cheap, effective and easily applied midwifery/nursing intervention.In this review, emphasizing the effectiveness of foot reflexology used for labor pain for manyyears and the importance of its application as one of the midwifery/nursing interventions isaimed.