Abstract
Objective:
The purpose of this pilot study was to test the effects of guided imagery on blood loss during the third stage of labor.
Design and setting:
This was a three-group randomized controlled trial. Recruitment was conducted from a university nurse-midwifery practice.
Subjects:
Sixty (60) women between pregnancy weeks 36 and 38 participated.
Interventions:
The women were randomized into experimental, placebo, and control groups.
Outcome measures:
Intrauterine pressure catheters were used to measure uterine contraction frequency and intensity. Blood loss was measured. Analysis of variance was used to compare the three groups on continuous variables.
Results:
Complete data were collected on 41 subjects. No significant differences were found among the groups on demographic or potentially confounding variables.
Conclusions:
Blood loss was nominally lower in the experimental group, but conclusions cannot be drawn due to the sample size.