Effect of auricular acupressure on postpartum blues: a randomized sham controlled trial

Alimoradi, Z, Asgari, S, Barghamadi, S, Hajnasiri, H, Oleson, T and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2023. Effect of auricular acupressure on postpartum blues: a randomized sham controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 52: 101762. ISSN 1744-3881

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Abstract

Aim: To investigate the effect of auricular acupressure on the severity of postpartum blues.

Methods: A randomized sham controlled trial was conducted from February to November 2021, with 74 participants who were randomly allocated into two groups of either routine care + auricular acupressure (n = 37), or routine care + sham control (n = 37). Vacaria seeds with special non-latex adhesives were used to perform auricular acupressure on seven ear acupoints. There were two intervention sessions with an interval of five days. In the sham group, special non-latex adhesives without vacaria seeds were attached in the same acupoints as the intervention group. Severity of postpartum blues, fatigue, maternal-infant attachment, and postpartum depression were assessed.

Results: Auricular acupressure was associated with significant effect in reduction of postpartum blues on 10th and 15th days after childbirth (SMD = −2.77 and −2.15 respectively), postpartum depression on the 21st day after childbirth (SMD = −0.74), and maternal fatigue on 10th, 15th and 21st days after childbirth (SMD = −2.07, −1.30 and −1.32, respectively). Also, maternal-infant attachment was increased significantly on the 21st day after childbirth (SMD = 1.95).

Conclusion: Auricular acupressure was effective in reducing postpartum blues and depression, reducing maternal fatigue, and increasing maternal-infant attachment in the short-term after childbirth.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
Creators:	Alimoradi, Z., Asgari, S., Barghamadi, S., Hajnasiri, H., Oleson, T. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	August 2023
Volume:	52
ISSN:	1744-3881
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.ctcp.2023.101762 DOI 1750592 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	17 Apr 2023 14:45
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2024 03:00
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/48758

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