Women's Health Pregnancy

Relaxation therapy produces larger babies

Relaxation therapy is arguably one of the best non-intrusive therapies which can help almost any health problem and can be practised anywhere, anytime and by anyone.

Researchers at the University of Alaska Anchorage in the USA examined the effects of using relaxation therapy on the outcome of 107 women who routinely experienced pre-term labour. The women were instructed to carry out a daily relaxation programme using tapes of the relaxation exercise.

The study reported that, of those women who received relaxation therapy, a positive response was observed in a significant number of documented contractions. It was also observed that the women who used relaxation therapy had significantly longer pregnancies and larger babies when compared to those women who were not practising the relaxation therapy.

The researchers concluded that relaxation therapy made a significant and very positive difference in the outcome of pre-term labour, producing larger babies and longer pregnancies. It was recommended that, due to the low cost of this treatment, it should provided as standard for all women at risk from pre-term labour.

Source : J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 1999 May-Jun;28(3):255-63
The effect of relaxation therapy on preterm labour outcomes.
Janke J

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