Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research

Bini ¹, Reeta Jebakumari Solomon ², V. Ahitha ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, Thasiah College of Nursing, Vellivilagam, Marthandam, IN
2 Thasiah College of Nursing, Vellivilagam, Marthandam, IN

Abstract

Back ground of the study: Pregnancy and child birth are the special events in women’s life. The mother does suffer with much distress after child birth due to painful perineum resulting from an episiotomy. Cold application is an inexpensive, safe and easy to use method. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cold application on episiotomy pain among postnatal mothers in selected hospitals at Kanyakumari district. Material and Methods : The design adopted was quasi experimental pre-test and post-test control group design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. The conceptual framework selected for this study is Modified Kenny’s open system model. The tool used for data collection procedures was Wong Baker faces pain rating scale. Cold application was administered forl5 to 20 minutes twice a day for two days. Results : On day I, in pre-test majority of postnatal mothers 53.33% in the experimental group had very severe episiotomy pain and 46.67% of them had worse episiotomy pain. After cold application, 73.34% of them had severe pain and 13.33% of them had moderate and very severe episiotomy pain in experimental group. On day II, in pre-test most of postnatal mothers 53.33% in the experimental had moderate pain and 46.67% of them had severe pain. In control group, 66.67% of them had very severe pain and 33.33% of them had severe pain. After cold application, it was surprising that 66.67% of them had mild pain and 33.33% of them had no episiotomy pain in experimental group. There was a significant reduction in mean post-test episiotomy pain (in day I, MD=1.97, t=9.85, p<0.001, in day II - MD=3.57, t=31.72, p<0.001) of the experimental group. In day I the mean post-test score of episiotomy pain in the experimental group was 5.56, which was lesser than that of the control group 7.53 (MD=1.97, t=9.85, p<0.001). In day II, the mean post-test score of episiotomy pain in the experimental group was 0.73, which was lesser than that of the control group 5.63 (MD=4.90, t=24.74, p<0.001). Conclusion : It was concluded that, cold application is an effective non- pharmacological intervention for reducing episiotomy pain among postnatal mothers.

Keywords

Effectiveness, Cold Application, Episiotomy Pain, Postnatal Mothers.

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