2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Facilitated labor process by footbath : the effect of footbath on the autonomic nervous system in women
| Project/Area Number |
15592233
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Fundamental nursing
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| Research Institution | Kumamoto University (2004)
Hiroshima University (2003) |
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Principal Investigator |
MIYAZATO Kuniko Kumamoto University, School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (90304427)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MATSUKAWA Kanji Hiroshima University, Faculty of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (90165788)
MURATA Jun Hiroshima University, Faculty of Medicine, Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (00304428)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Keywords | footbath / labor / cardiac parasympathetic nerve activity / R-R interval / respiratory arrhythmia / higher frequency component / lactation / skin blood flow |
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| Research Abstract |
We investigated the effects of footbath on cardiac parasympathetic nerve activity in 5 women who were 31〜32 weeks of pregnancy. Respiratory arrhythmia of R-R interval and the respiratory-synchronized frequency component of the power spectrum of R-R interval variability were assumed to be proportional to cardiac parasympathetic nerve activity. A course of experiment consisted of three periods ; before, during, and after footbath. During footbath, each subject immersed her legs in hot water(42℃) for 15 min. R-R interval were obtained from the R-wave of ECG., which was continuously measured at each period. We recorded the amplitude of respiratory arrhythmia and the higher frequency component of R-R interval variability. All of them decreased during footbath, suggesting that the footbath decreases cardiac parasympathetic nerve activity. It can be speculated that parasympathetic nerve activity to the cervical uterus may be decreased by footbath, which in turn may facilitate the labor process. On the other hand, after delivery, footbath has been used during postpartum period, to increase lactation. We observed the change of skin blood flow in the breast in 6 women who were 21〜27 years old and non-pregnant, to investigate a beneficial effect of footbath on breast skin blood flow. The blood flow increased in 20 minutes from the start of footbath. The average increase in skin blood flow was about 20% above the baseline. It is suggested that footbath during the postpartum period brings an increase of skin blood flow in the breast, resulting in increased lactation,
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