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CLEVELAND, Sep 14, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A study of women who gave birth in a Thailand hospital without medication found that those that listened to music during labor had less pain.
The study, published in Pain Management Nursing, found that music can reduce the sensation of labor pain and decrease and delay the emotional distress that accompanies it.
Sasitorn Phumdoung, a recent graduate of Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland, studied women ages 20 to 30 having their first baby.
One group listened to calming music for the first three hours after active labor began. The control group had no music.
The music group had significantly less sensation and distress than the control group and for some participants relief was fairly substantial, according to Phumdoung.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
