The effect of Benson’s muscle relaxation technique on severity of pregnancy nausea

Introduction:Nausea and vomiting caused by pregnancy significantly affect the quality of life of pregnant women and cause problems in them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of muscle relaxation technique on nausea during pregnancy.Materials and Methods:This study was a controlled clinical trial. 44 pregnant women referred to the health center were randomly divided into two groups: control and test. Benson’s muscle relaxation was taught to the test group during three sessions. They were then asked to do relaxation for 15-20 minutes for one month twice a day. No training was provided for the control group. The severity of nausea was compared using visual analogue vomiting (VAS) in two groups and the obtained results were analyzed using Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests at a significant level of ≤0.05.Results:Based on obtained results, 39.1% of mothers were aged between 30-35 years old. The mean and standard deviation of severity of nausea in the intervention (test) group before Benson relaxation was 6.9 ± 2.9 and after relaxation was 6.64 ± 1.99. Analysis (Mann-Whitney test) of severity of nausea before and after intervention in the test group showed a significant difference.Conclusion:Considering the positive effect of Benson’s relaxation on the reduction of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, its education is recommended for all pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy in health and counseling centers.