Effect of foot massage on the postpartum comfort and pain level of the mothers who had vaginal birth

The complicated and new turnover of the mother, baby, and family enjoys for 6 weeks after birth is called "postpartum period". In this period, although the complaints are few, the mother usually feels pain. Midwives who practice different non-pharmacological techniques have important roles in pain control and alleviation. One of these techniques is foot massage. In this study, the postnatal comfort and pain level of the mothers to whom foot massage applied after vaginal birth were investigated and the effect of the massage on the need of analgesic medication depending on the findings for the comfort and pain level assessed. The data were collected between 01.07.2017 - 31.08.2017 and the research was completed with a total of 66 mothers (study group=33 mothers, control group=33 mothers). In order to keep the number of individuals among the groups balanced, "block randomization" method is used in the randomization methods. For the groups not to be affected by each other in block randomization method, the data were collected at intervals of one week, taking into account the inclusion criteria for the survey. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups according to their socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics, and it was determined that both groups were similar (p>0.05). When the Postpartum Comfort Scale (PCS) point averages were examined, it was found that there was a significant increase between the scale point average of the study group mothers before the first foot massage application and the scale point average after the last foot massage application (p <0.001) and there was a significant decrease (p = 0.003) between the first PCS point average and the final PCS point average of the control group. In addition, there was no significant difference between the study and control groups in the mean of the first scale scores (p = 0.490), but a significant difference was found in the final scale average scores (p <0.001). When the pain intensity of the mothers in the study group before and after the first foot massage application and the pain intensity of the mothers in the control group were compared, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) mean scores of the mothers in the study group before (0 min), immediately after (20th min) and 30 min after (50th min) foot massage application decreased significantly (p <0.001) (p = 0.606), whereas there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.606) between the mean scores of the VAS administered at the same time for the mothers in the control group. When the pain intensity of the mothers in the study group before and after the second application of foot massage were compared with the pain intensity of the mothers in the control group, it was determined that similar results were obtained with the first application. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the PCS point averages applied at the same time in the control group (p = 0.011). When compared to the study group, it seems that difference is not too much. When the number of analgesic drugs taken by the study group from after birth until discharge and the number of analgesic drugs taken by the mothers in the control group were evaluated, it appears that the mothers in the study group received fewer analgesic medications than the control mothers (p <0.001). As a result; it is important to ensure continuity so that the effect of nonpharmacological methods applied to mothers can be maintained for a longer period of time and that postpartum foot massage has a positive effect on the comfort and pain levels of the mothers so that unnecessary use of the medication can be avoided. Key words: Pain, postpartum period, midwifery, comfort, massage