Investigating the Impact of Foot Reflexology on Postpartum Energy in Primiparous Women

 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.

 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.

 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).

 The presented massage intervention was not as effective as a non-invasive low-cost method on the postpartum energy level of the study participants.