Potency of back message and acupressure on increasing of prolactin hormone levels in primipara postpartum; consideration for midwifery care

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study was to determine potency of back message and acupressure in increasing prolactin hormone in primiparous post-partum mothers given back massage with acupressure. Hopefully back massage and acupressure can be considered to be practiced in midwifery care.

Methods

The subjects in this study consisted of 30 primipara first day postpartum mothers who had previously performed a pretest by taking blood samples as much as 3 ccs from peripheral veins to check prolactin hormone levels using the human Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbet Assay (ELISA) Kit at the Hasanuddin University Research Laboratory Makassar, then respondents were asked to fill in the table self-report containing the frequency of breastfeeding in 24 h for 3 days. The intervention was given in the form of back massage and acupressure therapy at points LU1, CV17, and SI1 on the body 1 time a day every morning with a duration of 30 min for 3 consecutive days then blood was taken on day 4, namely the median cubital vein on the anterior arm to measure the level of the prolactin hormone using ELISA KIT and compared the prolactin hormone before and after the intervention. Data were processed using paired T-tests.

Results

The treatment of back massage and acupressure in primiparous postpartum mothers had a significant effect on increasing levels of the hormone prolactin.

Conclusion

Back massage and acupressure therapy are able to increase levels of the hormone prolactin so that this therapy can be given to postpartum and breastfeeding mothers to breast milk production and can be considered practiced in midwifery care.