The effectiveness of hypnosis in reducing pain during labour

Abstract

Easing pain during labour has long been an issue. Excruciating labour pain affects both parents’ childbirth experience in a negative way. Therefore, this subject needs to be tackled to enhance positive birth outcomes. The research question formulated was ‘Is hypnosis effective in reducing pain among women during labour?’ by using the PICO framework. The population was women in labour. The intervention was the use of hypnosis. No hypnosis was considered the comparison. The outcome was pain reduction. The PICO question was used as guidance for the search through the literature, using six databases. An inclusion and exclusion criteria was formulated. Studies published not more than eleven years ago; pain measurement during labour; studies in English language; quantitative studies; full-text articles; and studies with pain measurement scale were included. Studies published more than eleven years ago; pain measurement before/after labour; studies not in English language; qualitative studies; abstract only/study protocols; and studies with no pain measurement scale were excluded. Ten studies were found to be relevant to the PICO question, but only four were chosen as guided by the chosen criteria. The studies included: one systematic review, two randomised control trials (RCTs) and one a retrospective comparative analysis. Diverse critical appraisal checklist tools were utilised according to the methodology of the chosen studies. Evidence showed the need of further research, to continue exploring hypnobirthing to reduce pain since two studies concluded that hypnobirthing could reduce pain while the two RCTs indicated that hypnosis makes no significant difference in reducing labour pain. This implies that results should be considered promising rather than conclusive. Reduced labour pain and better birth outcomes resulted when participants were self-selected into the hypnosis group rather than being randomised into it. Further research is recommended to improve the birth outcomes of the parents, new-born, and society in general.