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©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Therapeutic effect of manual massage on early postpartum rectus abdominis separation and postpartum depression
Yun Chen, Xiao-Yan Sun, Cheng Qian, Xiao-Xing Zhang, Yin-Jian Zhou, Hong-Yun Zhang, Zhen-Wei Xie
Yun Chen, Xiao-Yan Sun, Zhen-Wei Xie, Department of Gynecology, Women’s Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Yun Chen, Yin-Jian Zhou, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Huzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Cheng Qian, Department of Surgery, Huzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Xiao-Xing Zhang, Department of Obstetrics, Huzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Hong-Yun Zhang, Department of Ultrasound, Women’s Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Co-first authors: Yun Chen and Xiao-Yan Sun.
Author contributions: Chen Y and Sun XY contributed equally to this work and are co-first authors; Chen Y and Sun XY designed the research and wrote the first manuscript; Chen Y, Sun XY, Qian C, Zhang XX, Zhou YJ, Zhang HY and Xie ZW contributed to conceiving the research and analyzing data; Chen Y, Sun XY and Xie ZW conducted the analysis and provided guidance for the research; all authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Huzhou Science and Technology Bureau, No. 2021GY39.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Huzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare having no conflicts of interest in relation to this paper.
Data sharing statement: All data and materials are available from the corresponding author.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Zhen-Wei Xie, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of Gynecology, Women’s Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University, No. 1 Xueshi Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China. xiezw@zju.edu.cn
Received: February 22, 2024
Revised: April 13, 2024
Accepted: April 19, 2024
Published online: May 19, 2024
Processing time: 84 Days and 6 Hours
BACKGROUND
Rectus abdominis separation (DRA) affects pelvic stability and body image. No studies have explored the effects of manual massage on early postpartum DRA and postpartum depression.
AIM
To analyze the curative effect of massage on early postpartum DRA and its impact on postpartum depression and thus its ability promote the overall psychosomatic rehabilitation of postpartum women.
METHODS
Data were retrospectively collected on 70 primiparous women with postpartum DRA who underwent rehabilitation at the Postpartum Rehabilitation Center of Huzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital from October 2022 to September 2023. The patients were divided into the Group S (35 cases, biomimetic electrical stimulation treatment) and Group L (35 cases, biomimetic electrical stimulation combined with manual massage treatment). Baseline data, the edinburgh postpartum depression scale (EPDS) score, and the visual analog scale (VAS) scores for rectus abdominis distance, waist circumference, and lower back pain before and after treatment were compared.
RESULTS
No significant differences were found in the baseline data, rectus abdominis distance, waist circumference, and VAS and EPDS scores between the two groups before treatment (P > 0.05). After treatment, the distance between rectus abdominis and waist circumference in Group L were significantly smaller than those in Group S (P < 0.05). Furthermore, lower back pain (VAS score) and the EPDS score in Group L were significantly lower than those in Group S (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Manual massage can significantly reduce early postpartum DRA, waist circumference, and back pain and improve the patient’s mental state and postpartum depression.
Core Tip: Postpartum rectus abdominis separation can cause abdominal distension, difficulty in defecation, and pelvic floor dysfunction. It significantly impacts body image and can lead to negative emotions such as anxiety and inferiority complex in women after childbirth, increasing the incidence of postpartum depression. This study describes the ability of massage in reducing the separation of the rectus abdominis muscle, waist circumference, and lower back pain and improving the patient’s mental state, which helps lower the risk of postpartum depression.
