The use of aromatherapy during labor: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective: To describe studies on the use of aromatherapy to relieve pain during labor. Method: An integrative literature review was carried out in the Nursing Database (BDENF), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Medline/PubMed), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). Available full text, original article, published between 2017 and 2022, available in Portuguese and English and within the theme suggested in the research, and the exclusion criteria were abstracts published in conference proceedings, in vitro research and other related diseases. to the thematic axis. Results: The search and selection of scientific articles was established as follows: 80 publications were found and 103 were excluded for not meeting the previously defined eligibility criteria, thus leaving 12 publications. After carefully reading the titles and abstracts, 45 articles were excluded, leaving only 12 complete articles included in this integrative review. Conclusion: Non-pharmacological methods, such as aromatherapy, have been used to relieve pain, anxiety, stress and other uncomfortable symptoms inherent to labor. In the analyzed studies, the use of EO during labor had a minimal or null adverse effect for the mother-newborn binomial.