The Effects of Promoting Maternal Mobility and Upright Positions during the First Stage of Labor

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to study the effects of promoting maternal mobility and upright positions during the first stage of labor. The samples consisted of 50 mothers giving birth for the first time at Chiang Yuen Hospital, Mahasarakham Province, who were equally separated into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group were promoted with the maternal mobility and upright positions during the first stage of labor with the conventional nursing care and the control group received only the conventional nursing care. The research instruments consisted of the visual media and the manual for promoting the maternal mobility and upright positions during the first stage of labor, the data recording form, the recording form of mobility and upright positions, and the birth outcomes recording form. The implementation and data collection were conducted from December, 2014 to May, 2016. Statistics used for data analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and independent t-test.

The result revealed that the experimental group had statistically significant shorter average time of the first stage of labor than that of the control group (t = 2.049, p < .05).

This study suggested that mothers should be encouraged to have mobility and upright positions during the first stage of labor in order to shorten the labor time. This will reduce the time that mothers have to face with the pain during the first stage of labor and reduce fatigue from waiting for giving birth for a long time.