EFFECTIVENESS OF HANDS OFF VERSUS HANDS ON TECHNIQUES ON PERINEAL TRAUMA AND PERINEAL PAIN AMONG PARTURIENT MOTHERS

Background: Labor is the process by which the fetus and the placenta leave the uterus. Delivery can occur in two ways, vaginally or by a cesarean delivery. The majority of women who have a vaginal birth will sustain perineal trauma from a spontaneous perineal tear or episiotomy or both.Aim: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of hands off versus hands on techniques on perineal trauma and perineal pain among parturient mothers in selected hospitals, Kerala.Methods: The research design adopted in this study was true experimental post test only design. The study was conducted in 3 hospitals at Kerala such as Karothukuzhiyil hospital Pvt, Lakshmi hospital Pvt and Carmal hospital Pvt. Sample size was computed by power analysis based on the previous studies and it would be a total of 90 samples, with 30 parturient mothers in each groups. Simple random sampling technique (Lottery method) was adopted for the selection of parturient mothers into the study. Perineal trauma was assessed by the scale given by Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG), 2001, and visual analogue scale (Combined numerical and categorical pain scale) was used to assess the perineal pain of parturient mothers.Results: The results showed that, there was extremely significant difference found in perineal trauma and perineal pain of parturient mothers between study group I and study II at p=0.000 level. The mean scores of study group I was lesser than the mean scores of study group II. Conclusion: Different perineal techniques and interventions such as hands on technique, hands off technique, perineal massage, warm compresses etc can be widely used by midwives and birth attendants to prevent perineal trauma during labour.  Key words: hands off technique, hands on technique, perineal trauma and perineal pai