Clinical trial of Aromatherapy on Postpartum
Mother's Perineal Healing
Hur, Myung-Haeng1)․Han, Sun-Hee2)
1) Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Eulji University
2) Professor, Department of Nursing, Wonkwang Public Health
Science College
Purpose This study was designed to verify the effect of
aromatherapy on a postpartum mother's perineal healing.
Method The research design was a clinical trial. The methods
of aromatherapy were applied sitz bath or soap application
using essential oils with Lavender, Myrrh, Neroli, Rose,
Grapefruit, Mandarin, Orange, and Roman Chamomile. The
subjects of this experiment were postpartum mothers who
delivered vaginally with an episiotomy. They were allocated to
one of three groups; the aroma-sitz bath group, aroma-soap
application group or control group. To evaluate the effect of
aromatherapy, the perineal healing status was measured
using the REEDA scale and smears of episiotomy wound
were obtained. The data were analyzed by repeated
measures of ANOVA, ANCOVA, χ²- test, and multiple
response analysis via SPSS program. Results The REEDA
scale was significantly low in the experimental group at
postpartum 5th and 7th days (P=.009, P=.003), respectively.
Most were observed 'few'(5-10 bacteria per field) bacteria in
the smears of episiotomy wound. The one bacteria was
identified in the 50.8% of subjects in pretest and two bacteria in
the 60.3% in posttest. Most frequently identified bacteria were
Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis. Conclusion In
conclusion, these findings indicate that postpartum
aromatherapy for perineal care could be effective in healing
the perineum perineal care could be effective in healing the
perineum.
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