Effect of massage and herbal compress to stimulate the flow of milk in Postpartum mothers at Nangrong Hospital, Nang Rong District, Buriram Province

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect of massage to stimulate milk flow and herbal compress in postpartum mothers at Nangrong Hospital, Nangrong District, Buriram Province during May 2021 – May 2022. The 160 samples were purposively selected. They were equally divided into a control group and an experimental group of 80 people each as follows: The control group received a massage program to stimulate milk flow only 1 time per day for 3 days and the experimental group received a massage program to stimulate milk flow together with herbal compress 1 time per day for 3 days. The research instruments were massage program to stimulate milk flow, a demographic data form, and a milk expression assessment of 5 levels, and then evaluate the results before and after the procedure. Data analyzes were included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and statistical confidence was determined using the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test of 95% (P≤0.05). The results showed that postpartum mothers were between 20-25 years old (n=73; 45.62%). There were discharge galactorrhea problems (n=107; 66.88%), nipples were at level 1 (n=160; 100%), the highest for areola were at level 3 (n=77; 43.75%). When giving a massage program stimulate the flow of the mother's milk and the massage herbal compress, the average milk flow was significantly increased (P<0.05) compared with the same group. There was a statistically significant increase in the mean milk flow receiving massage with herbal compress (P<0.05) compared to the control group receiving massage only. Therefore, lactation stimulating massage combined with herbal compress increases the milk flow in postpartum mothers more than massage only.