EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRTH BALLS ON BIRTH COMFORT: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

This randomized controlled trial compared the effects of three types of birth balls (round, peanut, and donut) used during the first stage of labor on labor comfort in primiparous women, relative to routine intrapartum care alone. Two hundred ten women were randomly assigned to one of four groups (control, round ball, peanut ball, or donut ball) using a lottery method. Participants in the intervention groups performed a 30-minute supervised exercise routine on their assigned ball during the latent and active phases of labor, in addition to routine care. Labor comfort was measured at the end of the active phase using the Birth Comfort Scale. The study tested the hypothesis that birth ball use increases labor comfort compared with routine care, and explored whether comfort differs by ball type, including the donut ball, which had not previously been evaluated in published research.