• Rubneide Barreto Silva Gallo, Licia Santos Santana, Jorge Ferreira Cristine Homsi CH, Alessandra Cristina Marcolin, Omero Benedicto Polineto, Geraldo Duarte, and Silvana Maria Quintana.
• Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.
• J Physiother. 2013 Jun 1; 59 (2): 109-16.

QuestionDoes massage relieve pain in the active phase of labour?DesignRandomised trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding for some outcomes, and intention-to-treat analysis.Participants46 women pregnant at ≥ 37 weeks gestation with a single fetus, with spontaneous onset of labour, 4-5cm of cervical dilation, intact ovular membranes, and no use of medication after admission to hospital.InterventionExperimental group participants received a 30-min lumbar massage by a physiotherapist during the active phase of labour. A physiotherapist attended control group participants for the same period but only answered questions. Both groups received routine perinatal care.Outcome MeasuresThe primary outcome was pain severity measured on a 100mm visual analogue scale. Secondary outcomes included the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire, pain location, and time to analgesic medication use. After labour, a blinded researcher also recorded duration of labour, route of delivery, neonatal outcomes, and the participant's satisfaction with the physiotherapist during labour.ResultsAt the end of the intervention, pain severity was 52mm (SD 20) in the experimental group and 72mm (SD 15) in control group, which was significantly different with a mean difference of 20mm (95% CI 10 to 31). The groups did not differ significantly on the other pain-related outcome measures. Obstetric outcomes were also similar between the groups except the duration of labour, which was 6.8hr (SD 1.6) in the experimental group and 5.7hr (SD 1.5) in the control group, mean difference 1.1hr (95% CI 0.2 to 2.0). Patients in both groups were satisfied with the care provided by the physiotherapist.ConclusionMassage reduced the severity of pain in labour, despite not changing its characteristics and location.Copyright © 2013 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by .. All rights reserved.

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