The effect of ylang oil and lemon oil inhalation on labor pain and anxiety pregnant women: A randomized controlled trial

Background: and purpose: To date, there has been very limited experimental research on the impact of ylang ylang oil and lemon oil inhalation labor pain. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of aroma-therapy, one of the non-pharmacological pain methods, on anxiety and labor pain in the active phase in pri-miparous pregnant women. Methods: A randomized controlled trial design was used in the study, which was conducted with 45 primiparous pregnant women. Volunteers were randomized into the lemon oil group (n = 15), ylang-ylang oil group (n = 15), and control group (n = 15) by using the sealed envelope method. The visual analog scale (VAS) and the state anxiety inventory were applied to the intervention and control groups before the application. After the appli-cation, the VAS and the state anxiety inventory were applied at 5-7 cm dilatation and the VAS was applied alone at 8-10 cm dilatation. The trait anxiety inventory was applied to the volunteers after delivery. Results: The mean pain scores at 5-7 cm dilatation in the intervention groups (lemon oil 6.90, ylang ylang oil, 7.30) were significantly lower than in the control group (9.20) (p = 0.005). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of their mean pre-intervention and 5-7-cm-dilatation anxiety scores (p = 0.750; p = 0.663), mean trait anxiety scores (p = 0.094), and mean first-and fifth-minute Apgar scores (p = 0.051; p = 0.051). Conclusion: It was found that aromatherapy applied by inhalation at labor reduced the perception of labor pain but had no effect on anxiety.