Effect of Aromatherapy with Lavender on Labor Pain: A Literature Review

Abstract

Background: Controlling labor pains is now an essential part of midwifery care, and aromatherapy is a well-known medicinal treatment for easing labor pains. The aim of this research was to evaluate and analyze the most recent clinical trial results on the effects of lavender aromatherapy on labor pain management. Methods: Several keywords were searched in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases, including lavender, Lavandula, childbirth, labor, pregnancy, labor pain, aromatherapy, and delivery. Two authors extracted the data, and the Cochran quality management tool was used to assess the consistency of each study. Results: In general, 7 studies were reviewed after checking the titles and abstracts of the studies and eliminating obsolete or low-quality studies. Two studies were conducted in Egypt and Indonesia, and five studies were conducted in Iran. There were a wide variety of qualities in the studies, which could render more quantitative synthesis impractical. Massage aromatherapy was employed in three trials, and inhalation was applied in four studies. All findings suggested that lavender aromatherapy in both methods could reduce active phase labor pain. Conclusion: Although the results of this study showed that lavender aromatherapy suppressed labor pain, more detailed randomized clinical trials with higher precision are needed to achieve an accurate outcome for data generalization regarding the use of labor pain management.