The Effects of the Use of Virgin Mary Herb in Childbirth

Objective: Midwives mostly develop nonpharmacological methods to cope with fear and pain management during birth in order not to interfere with the flow of birth. There are limited studies on traditional birth methods in Turkey. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the use of the Virgin Mary Herb, one of the traditional methods applied during birth, on fear of birth and pain felt during birth. Material and Method: The universe of the study consists of all pregnant women who were admitted to the Birth Unit of a City Hospital in Istanbul between March 2023 and December 2023. A power analysis was conducted to determine the number of people to be included in the study sample. The power of the test was calculated with the G*Power 3.1 program. In order to exceed the 95% value in determining the power of the study; a total of 84 people, 42 people in groups, should be reached at a significance level of 5% and an effect size of 0.732 (df=82; t=1.66). The study aimed to reach a total of 100 people, with the condition of including 50 people in each group, considering the high power of the test and the losses. Data were collected between September 5, 2024 and December 31, 2024. 50 intervention groups and 50 control groups were included in the study, and all pregnant women received midwifery care. The intervention group was additionally shown the opening of the Virgin Mary Herb in water.

Inclusion criteria

• Being over 18 years old,
• Being able to understand and speak Turkish,
• Being primiparous,
• Not having a chronic disease,
• Having completed the 37th week of pregnancy,
• Not having passed the 42nd week of pregnancy,
• Being in a cephalic presentation,
• Having reached 4cm cervical dilatation,

Exclusion criteria

• Multiparous pregnancy,
• Application of labor induction,
• Being a high-risk pregnancy,
• Having received childbirth preparation training,
• Being an immigrant,
• Use of non-pharmacological methods other than Virgin Mary