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Labor pain is a manifestation of the contraction (shortening) of the uterine muscles. Non-pharmacological treatment in pain management, namely deep breathing relaxation and counterpressure massage is an alternative method and a new trend that can be developed. This study investigated the effectiveness of deep breathing relaxation and Counterpressure massage in alleviating labor pain during active phase I. Employing a quasi-experimental design with a two-group pre-test post-test approach, 30 postpartum mothers from June to July 2021 were consecutively sampled. Deep breathing relaxation (5 times for 3-5 minutes) and counterpressure massage (3 times for 30-90 seconds) served as the independent variables, while pain intensity during the first active phase was the dependent variable. Utilizing the Wilcoxon and Mann Whitney tests at a 5% significance level, significant reductions in pain intensity were observed after both interventions (p-values: 0.002 for deep breathing, 0.046 for counterpressure massage). These non-pharmacological methods, enhancing endorphin release, contribute to relaxation and pain intensity reduction during labor. The findings underscore the potential of integrating deep breathing relaxation and counterpressure massage as effective approaches in non-pharmacological labor pain management.

Objective: To determine the effect of Bryophyllum pinnatum treatment in modulating immune response and the pregnancy outcomes of pregnant pristane-induced lupus mice model. Methods: Sixteen Balb/c mice were intraperitoneally injected with single 0.5 cc pristane to induce lupus manifestations. After 12 weeks of injection, mice were mated and considered as gestational day 0 (GD0). Mice were divided into 4 groups based on the dosages of Bryophyllum pinnatum: control (no treatment), B1 (10.5 mg/kg), B2 (21 mg/kg), and B3 (42 mg/kg). The treatment was given orally every day started from GD9 until 9 days. At the end of the study, blood pressure and fetal size were measured. Serum anti-dsDNA and urine albumin levels were measured by ELISA. Spleen T helper (Th) and mature B cells percentages were measured by flow cytometry. Results: Administration of Bryophyllum pinnatum reduced the percentages of Th1 (p=0.006), Th2 (p=0.005), Th17 (p=0.000), and mature B cells (p=0.007) in dose-dependent manner. B1 and B2 had significantly lower of systolic blood pressure compared to control (p=0.026 and p=0.022 respectively). Significantly lower of anti-dsDNA levels were found in B1 group compared to control (p=0.014). However, no significantly different of urine albumin levels were found between groups. Bryophyllum pinnatum also significantly increased the fetus body weight in dose-dependent manner (p=0.000). Conclusion: Treatment of Bryophyllum pinnatum could improve the pregnancy outcome and modulate the immune response in pregnant pristane-induced lupus mice. Therefore, Bryophyllum pinnatum is a potential herb which can be developed as an immunosuppressive agent in the future.