The effects of a modified Lamaze natural childbirth approach plus follow-up on primary dysmenorrhea in college females

Abstract

The purpose was to evaluate the efficacy of a modified Lamaze natural childbirth approach with and without follow-up in the alleviation of menstrual discomfort in college females. The subjects (N=34) were from three educational institutions in La Crosse, Wisconsin, The Menstrual Discomfort Questionnaire was developed by the researcher to obtain demographic data and to determine the location/intensity of menstrual discomfort. The questionnaire was validated by a group of five jurors and reliability was determined by Hoyt's Analysis of Variance. Anxiety levels were measured through the use of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The researcher decided a pretest, posttest control group experimental design was appropriate. Statistical analysis of data through use of the Mann Whitney U-test revealed that seven of nine null hypotheses failed to be rejected. The two null hypotheses concerning change scores in menstrual discomfort between each treatment group and and the control group yielded a significant decrease at the .05 probability level. The remaining seven hypothesis converned stste and trait anxiety change scores in two-group comparisons among treatment Group I, treatment Group II, control Group OOO, and menstrual deiscomfort reduction between the two treatment groups, and failed to be rejected at the .05 significance level.