Feasibility Study for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Aromatherapy Footbath for Stimulating Onset of Labor in Term Pregnant Women

Yuriko Tadokoro () and Kaori Takahata
Additional contact information
Yuriko Tadokoro: Chiba Faculty of Nursing, Tokyo Healthcare University, Funabashi 273-8710, Japan
Kaori Takahata: School of Nursing, Shonan Kamakura University of Medical Sciences, Kamakura 247-0066, Japan

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: We evaluated the feasibility of a new research methodology designed for conducting a future, large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT). This future RCT is aimed at evaluating the effects of repeated aromatherapy footbaths on stimulating the onset of labor. Herein, we conducted a pilot RCT with two arms among low-risk pregnant women at or beyond 39 weeks of gestation before labor onset. These two arms consisted of a treatment group performing aromatherapy footbaths twice a day (n = 7) and a usual care group (n = 8). This study was prospectively registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of the University Hospital Medical Information Network in Japan (UMIN000037398). Feasibility was assessed across the domains of acceptability , demand , implementation , practicality , process , resources , and management using questionnaires, researcher records, and semi-structured interviews with the treatment group and midwives at the setting facility. The new research methodology was found to be feasible, although challenges were identified in the process and implementation . For process , the research participation rate was 55.5%. For implementation , the adherence rate among the multiparous participants in the treatment group ranged from 50% to 94%. An imbalance between both groups was found. Areas that need careful planning and methodological improvements include random allocation, treatment method, and participation criteria.

Keywords: pregnant women; aromatherapy; footbath; complementary alternative medicine; stimulation of labor; feasibility study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/950/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/950/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:950-:d:1681031

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().