Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae

Background: Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is a common and challenging problem in early pregnancy, affecting 70% of pregnant women.1 NVP symptoms usually begin at 4–6 weeks of gestation, peak at 8–12 weeks, and often disappear naturally at 20 weeks.2 Evidence exists that all NVP types affect the quality of life of pregnant women, and the degree of impact increases with an increase in the frequency of symptoms. The cause of emesis gravidarum is still not known with certainty but is generally associated with hormonal changes. According to several studies stating that the HCG hormone is the cause of emesis gravidarum, the results show that women who experience nausea and vomiting have HCG hormone levels of 1600/IU/L and 3200 IU/L, the increase in hormone levels is estimated to be very high because in women who do not Pregnant women have an average hormone level of 5 IU/L. Pharmacology and non pharmacology treatment modalities are available but Acupressure is a non drug treatment that stimulates the body to release chemicals, such as β endorphins, dopamine, and adrenaline, adequately by applying appropriate pressure to acupoints on the meridians to maintain the normal function of the body and reduce nausea and vomiting symptoms. Hence a study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness acupressure application in relieving morning sickness among pregnant women. Method: It was a quasi experimental study conducted on pregnant women using structured questionnaire prepared. The Sample size was 60 control group consist of 30 samples and experimental group 30 samples. A convenient sampling technique was used. Result: In the Control group majority of samples (31)

had mild symptoms of morning sickness in post-test. In the Experimental group majority samples 36 were having mild symptoms after 1 month of acupressure in post-test. Conclusion: The effectiveness of acupressure in reducing morning sickness was effective in the experimental group as compared with control group in which acupressure was not given. Hence it is necessary to advise all pregnant women to practice acupressure to reduce symptoms related to morning sickness. Moreover, awareness about acupressure can be given to family members of pregnant women which help to control symptoms as well can reduce severity of symptoms of morning sickness.