IntroductionLabor pain is among the

Introduction
Labor pain is among the most severe pains in
the world.1 Severe labor pain causes distress
for mother and can impair her health. It
might also have negative effects on childmother
and marital relationships.2 According
to previous studies, the fear of tolerating vaginal
delivery pain has significantly increased
the number of cesarean sections in
Iran3,4 although there are a number of nonpharmacological
interventions to relieve
pain.5 Studies performed in 1988 on 4171
American women revealed that 84% of women
tended to use non-pharmacological methods
to decrease labor pain and the commonest
methods were breathing techniques
(55.2%) and massaging (17.3%).6
Implementation of different techniques is
time-consuming and costly. On the other
Kamalifard et al.
74 | Journal of Caring Sciences, 2012, 1(2), 73-78 Copyright © 2012 by Tabriz University of Medical Sciences
hand, a safe method to control pain should
certainly be effective, affordable and accessible
as well as less hazardous for both the
mother and the fetus. Comparing the commonest
methods seems necessary in order to
determine the most effective method. Thus,
we tried to compare the effects of massage
therapy and breathing techniques on pain
intensity and physiological responses to pain
(pulse rate, blood pressure and fever), as well
as on progression and labor results (type of
delivery and Apgar score).