THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FINGER STRESS BALL USE ON LABOR PAIN INTENSITY AND DURATION OF THE ACTIVE PHASE OF THE FIRST STAGE OF LABOR

Abstract

Labor pain becomes increasingly pronounced as the active phase progresses and may affect maternal comfort and the progress of childbirth. A finger stress ball is a non-pharmacological method that is squeezed whenever a mother experiences contractions during the active phase of the first stage of labor This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of finger stress pall use on pain intensity and the duration of the active phase of the first stage of labor at Simpang Lima Gumul Kediri Regional General Hospital, A quasi-experimental approach using a nonequivalent control group design was applied in this study. A total of 36 women in the active phase of the first stage of labor participated in the study and were assigned to either the intervention or control group through consecutive sampling. The intervention group received finger stress ball therapy, whereas the control group received standard care. Pain intensity was measured using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and labor duration was measured using a partograph. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The intervention group showed a mean pain change of −0.88 ± 1.1, compared with 2.8 ± 1.2 in the control group (p < 0.001). The mean active-phase duration was 255 minutes for primiparous and 192 minutes for multiparous women in the intervention group, compared with 390 and 265 minutes, respectively, in the control group (p = 0.044). The duration of labor in the intervention group was shorter than that in the control group, with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.044). These findings indicate that finger stress ball therapy may be used as a complementary non-pharmacological approach to support maternal comfort and labor progress.