Impact of a warm red bean pack compress applied to the perineum during labor: a randomized controlled trial

Warm compress represents a widely recommended non-pharmacological pain relief strategy in routine labor nursing care. This randomized controlled trial was designed to investigate the efficacy of perineal warm compress with a red bean pack, in comparison with standard nursing care, among women in the second stage of labor. This randomized controlled trial was designed to investigate the efficacy of perineal warm compress with a red bean pack, in comparison with standard nursing care, among women in the second stage of labor. The study was carried out at a maternity hospital in Shanghai, China, with 138 eligible women in the second stage of labor enrolled and randomly assigned to the experimental group or control group between May 20 and June 20, 2023. Participants in the experimental group received perineal warm compress using a red bean pack throughout the second stage of labor, whereas those in the control group received standard labor nursing care alone. Outcome assessments were performed at full cervical dilation (10 cm) and 30 minutes after warm compress initiation in the experimental group, and at 30 minutes after the start of maternal pushing in the control group. Data were collected via a demographic and obstetric characteristics questionnaire, the numerical pain rating scale, and a specialized warm compress evaluation form. In the experimental group, statistically significant differences were observed between pre- and post-intervention scores for pain intensity and maternal comfort following warm compress administration (p < 0.05). Conversely, no significant between-group differences were identified regarding maternal anxiety levels, self-control capacity, perineal length and elasticity, perineal trauma, 1-minute Apgar scores of neonates, or the duration of the second stage of labor (p = 0.201, 0.853, 0.301, 0.668, and 0.160, respectively). Perineal warm compress with a red bean pack proved to be a convenient and effective non-pharmacological approach to alleviate labor pain and enhance maternal comfort during the second stage of labor. These findings provided robust clinical evidence to inform evidence-based practice for non-pharmacological labor pain management in routine obstetric nursing care. We registered this study with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry center on 18th May 2023 and obtained the registration number ChiCTR2300071552. https://www.chictr.org.cn/bin/project/edit?pid=196427 .