This was a quasi-experimental study performed on 90 pregnant
women referred to four hospitals in Tehran.
Women were included in the study if they were 18e40 years of
age, had a singleton and term pregnancy, naturally started labor
with normal fetal heart rate (FHR), had a natural pattern of uterine
contractions, and a dilatation of 3e4 cm. They also had to score 3 or
more in the visual analogue scale (VAS). Subjects were excluded if
they had any underlying renal or cardiovascular disease, gestational
diabetes, pre eclampsia, mental disorders, visual impairments, or
a history of acupressure. In addition, any complications during the
labor, which led to analgesic drugs use or midwifery interventions
to accelerate the labor, caused the patients to be excluded. Datawas
collected using a standard VAS. The assumption in this scale was an
11 point, 0e10. This scale has been repeatedly used in different
studies and its reliability and validity have been confirmed by the
researchers.