Korean J Women Health Nurs.  2023 Jun;29(2):137-145. 10.4069/kjwhn.2023.06.21.

The effects of music therapy on labor pain, childbirth experience, and self-esteem during epidural labor analgesia in primiparas: a non-randomized experimental study

• An SY
• Park EJ
• Moon YR
• Lee BY
• Lee E
• Kim DY
• Jeong SH
• Kim JK

• KMID: 2543812
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2023.06.21

Abstract

Purpose
This non-randomized study was performed to evaluate the effects of music therapy on labor pain, the childbirth experience, and self-esteem in women during vaginal delivery.
Methods
In total, 136 primiparous women over 37 weeks of gestation receiving epidural analgesia during vaginal delivery were recruited via convenience sampling. To minimize diffusion effects, data from the control group (n=71) were collected first (April 2020 to March 2021), followed by data from the music group (n=65; April 2021 to May 2022). Participants in the music group listened to classical music during labor, while the control group was offered usual care (no music). Labor pain was measured using a numeric rating scale (NRS), and self-esteem and childbirth experience were collected using self-report questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test, chi-square test and Cronbach’s α coefficients.
Results
The overall pain level (NRS) at baseline was 0 in both groups. Mothers in the music therapy group had lower levels of latent pain (t=1.95, p=.005), active pain (t=3.69, p<.001) and transition-phase pain (t=7.07, p<.001) than the control group. A significant difference was observed between the two groups, and the music therapy group expressed more positive perceptions of the childbirth experience (t=–1.36, p=.018). For self-esteem, the experimental group’s score was slightly higher, but without a statistically significant difference from the control group.
Conclusion
Using music therapy during labor decreased labor pain and improved the childbirth experience. Music therapy can be clinically recommended as a non-pharmacological, safe, and easy method for nursing care in labor. Clinical trail number: KCT008561

Keyword

Labor pain; Music therapy; Parturition; Primiparity; Self concept; 분만통증; 음악요법; 분만경험; 초산모; 자아존중감

Figure

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  Figure 1. The study design.C1, E1: General characteristics, self-esteem; C2, E2: labor pain, childbirth experience, self-esteem; X1: usual care (hospitalization manual, epidural labor analgesia, spouse’s participation in delivery); X2: usual care, music therapy during labor.

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  Figure 2. CONSORT flow diagram modified for a non-randomized trial design.

Reference

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