Effect of Oral Evening Primrose Capsules on Ripening of the Cervix in Nulliparous Iranian Pregnant Women (A Randomized Trial)



Jahdi F¹ ; Kalati M² ; Kashanian M³ ; Naseri M⁴ ; Haghani H⁵
Source: Acta Medica Mediterranea Published:2016

Abstract

Introduction: Ripening of the cervix and uterine contractions are two basic factors of a successful delivery. Lack of ripening of the cervix is considered to be one of the problems of delivery. Thus, the present research was designed to determine the effect of oral evening primrose capsules on the ripening of cervix in nulliparous women. Materials and methods: This research has been conducted with the triple-blind randomized trial method on 80 nulliparous women in the 40th week of pregnancy (6th day + 40 weeks) visiting the prenatal clinic Prenatal clinic Shahid Akbarabadi educational and medical center of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Samples were divided into two equal groups of medicine and placebo with the randomized allocation method. Each of the participants took a bottle containing 14 1000mg oral evening primrose capsules (2 capsules per day, each 12 twelve hours for a week) or the placebo containing 14 1000mg oral capsules of paraffin in similar bottles. Data collecting tools include: demographic specifications questionnaire and the form of the records of the examinations. Data was analyzed through statistical tests and SPSS software version 16 using descriptive inferential statistic. Findings: Similarity of the two groups in terms of individual specifications and Bishop Score before the intervention were reviewed in the two groups and no significant statistical difference was seen between the two groups. The mean of the Bishop score for those who had taken 10 or more capsules after the intervention did not show a statistically significant difference (p=0.110). Conclusion: Consumption of evening primrose did not show a considerable improvement in the score. It is recommended to do more comparative studies in this field in later weeks of pregnancy due to the conflicts of the studies.