Objective: The postpartum period is a critical stage that exposes the mother to unpleasant experiences, including changes in energy level. Implementing reflexology during this period, as a branch of complementary medicine, may be helpful in promoting healthcare, especially in the areas of maternal and child health.
Methods: In total, 70 eligible women who referred to health centers in the south of Tehran City, Iran, affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences participated in this quasi-experimental study. A written informed consent form was obtained from them before initiating the study. The mothers of the postpartum routine care control group and the reflexology group received a massage for 3 consecutive days for 30 minutes (15 minutes per leg). Both study groups completed energy-related items in the Visual Fatigue Questionnaire before as well as immediately and one week after the completion of the intervention. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS.
Results: Demographic characteristics and the energy level before intervention were homogenous in both research groups. Immediately after the intervention, the Mean±SD energy scores in the control and reflexology groups were 34.55±2.84 and 33.7±4.33, respectively; thus the obtained data revealed no statistically significant difference between the study groups (P=0.02). One week after the intervention, the Mean±SD energy scores in the reflexology and control groups were 35.87±2.71 and 35.5±3.43), respectively; thus, there was no significant difference between the study groups in this regard (P=0.64).
Conclusion: The presented massage intervention was not as effective as a non-invasive low-cost method on the postpartum energy level of the study participants.