Comparing the effect of oxytocin alone versus oxytocin plus intravenous and oral propranolol on labor progression: A randomized clinical trial study

ntroduction: Cervical ripening methods are always used to prepare cervix during labor induction. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of oxytocin alone and oxytocin in combination with intravenous and oral propranolol on labor progression in natural childbirth. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was conducted on 120 pregnant women with 38-41 weeks of gestational age. They divided into three groups using triplex random blocks. The sample size in each group was 40 cases. The Induction of labor started for the first group using oxytocin alone, the second group received oxytocin in combination with intravenous propranolol and the third group received oxytocin along with oral propranolol. The duration of first and second stages of labor and Apgar score, meconium passing and uterine atony were recorded for three groups. Chi-square test was used for qualitative variables. To compare the main variable of the study one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test were used. The significant level of .05 was considered. Results: The duration of the first stage of labor in oxytocin alone group was 197.25 ± 66.9 minutes which was more than oxytocin with oral propranolol (128.25 ±35.29) and oxytocin with intravenous propranolol (122.00± 23.00) groups. It was a significant difference between the three groups (p = .0001). The duration of the second stage of labor in oxytocin alone group was 56.50 ± 29.70 minutes and in, oral propranolol and intravenous propranolol groups were 42.38 ± 17.17 and 54.38 ± 23.94 respectively. It was a significant difference between the three groups (p =. 021).Conclusion: Administration of propranolol with oxytocin particularly in oral method reduces the time of the first and second stages of labor in natural labor and also reduces caesarean section cases. In addition propranolol had no effect on maternal and neonatal complications