Effects of Aromatherapy on Pain, Stress, and Behaviors of Newborns: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Complementary care applications such as aromatherapy can be used to reduce the negative effects of newborns such as pain and stress. This study was conducted as a randomized controlled double-blind trial to examine the effects of massage and bathing using lavender oil on the pain, stress and behavior of newborns (This clinical trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov with ID number NCT05770999). The sample of the study included 45 term newborns (15 lavender massage groups, 15 lavender bath groups, 15 control groups) with a postnatal age of 1-5 days and a gestational age of 38-42 weeks, who could tolerate enterally administered nutrients, were not connected to a respiratory support device, had no skin disease, had no genetic or chromosomal anomalies, and did not undergo surgical intervention, at least one of the parents gave written consent. Ethics Committee and necessary permissions were obtained for the research, and the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki were complied with. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, Repeated Measures ANOVA and One-Way ANOVA tests were used to evaluate the data. It was determined that the ALPS- Neo scores of the newborns in the lavender massage group decreased at the 5th minute after the study compared to the before the study. It was determined that the ABSS scores of the newborns in the lavender massage group decreased at the 5th minute after the study compared to the before the study. It was determined that the mean difference between the ALPS-Neo scores of the newborns in the lavender massage group was higher than the other groups. It can be said that aromatherapy massage with lavender oil is more effective in reducing pain and stress levels and improving behavioral outcomes in newborns than a bath application made by adding lavender oil. It is recommended to encourage the application of aromatherapy massage in newborn clinics, to inform parents and to include more studies on this subject.