title: Hypnosis for childbirth: a retrospective comparative analysis of outcomes in one obstetrician's practice.
abstract: This exploratory, descriptive study, done retrospectively from perinatal medical records, compared childbirth outcomes in one obstetrician's caseload between 50 women who elected antepartal hypnosis preparation (usually a 5-class series) and 51 who did not. The groups were demographically similar. To achieve similar numbers to the hypnosis group, the control group was randomly selected from the women in the caseload who opted not to take hypnosis preparation, based on characteristics of parity and delivery mode. Prenatal hypnosis preparation resulted in significantly less use of sedatives, analgesia, and regional anesthesia during labor and in higher 1-minute neonatal Apgar scores. Other physiologic and outcome measures did not reveal statistical significance, although some trends were of clinical interest. Well-controlled studies are warranted for clinicians to offer hypnosis more frequently as a pain relief option for childbirth. Additional information provided includes pragmatic, clinical, and cost information about incorporating hypnosis into a physician's practice.
authors.affiliation: Marquette University College of Nursing, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA. leona.vandevusse@mu.edu
authors.forename: Leona
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: VandeVusse
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Irland
authors.forename: Wheaton Franciscan
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Healthcare
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Berner
authors.forename: Shauna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000379:methods*; D010146:Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D036801:Parturition; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics