An Experimental Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of lavender oil sitzbath on Episiotomy pain and wound healing among Postnatal Mothers who have undergone Normal Vaginal Delivery in Selected Hospitals of Hubballi

Background: Motherhood is a beautiful process, where by mothers safely delivers a child. It is the magic of creation. During child birth, the women may sustain some degree of perineal trauma due to perineal tear or surgical incision called episiotomy. The care of episiotomy is an important aspect of postnatal care. One of the suggested methods is a regular antiseptic sitzbath. Nowadays, using alternative and complimentary therapies such as Lavender oil in aromatherapy have been recognized in obstetrics. It has antibacterial, antifungal, sedative, antidepressant and healing properties. One of the main actions of these oils is easy absorption through the skin. However, definitive effects of these methods have not been verified through clinical trials, and more extensive studies are still required in this area. Objectives: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lavender oil sitzbath on episiotomy pain and wound healing. Methodology: A quasi – experimental study was conducted among 30 (experimental 15 and control group 15) post-natal mothers who had undergone normal vaginal delivery with episiotomy at selected hospitals of Hubballi. Quasi-experimental; Pre-test post-test control group design was used for the present study. The episiotomy pain was assessed during walking, sitting, changing position, urination and defecation through Numerical pain rating scale and wound healing was assessed through REEDA scale. Pre-test was assessed after 2hrs of vaginal delivery with episiotomy in both the groups and intervention such as sitzbathwas given to experimental group in morning, afternoon and evening for 20 minutes duration with 8 hours of interval till discharge by using Lavender oil solution. Then the post-test was assessed after 24hrs, 48hrs and 72hrs respectively. Results: The study results showed that the overall mean with SD 4.56 ± 0.58, 5.30 ± 0.80 in experimental group which was lesser than the mean with SD 5.55 ± 0.63, 6.59 ± 0.97 of control group. Calculated independent‘t’ value for episiotomy pain and wound healing was greater than tabulated value t tab= 2.05 in both experimental group and control group p<0.05. This indicated that there was a delayed reduction in episiotomy pain and wound healing in control group. Thus, the results showed that there was statistical difference in post-test scores regarding episiotomy pain and wound healing among postnatal mother who had undergone normal vaginal delivery with episiotomy. Lavender oil sitzbath was effective to reduce the episiotomy pain and promote wound healing. And there was no statistical association between pre-test scores regarding the level of episiotomy pain and wound healing among post-natal mothers of both experimental and control group with their selected socio-demographical variables. Conclusion: The study concluded that, the Lavender oil sitzbath was effective in episiotomy wound healing and reduction in pain perception.