The Effects of Deep Breathing Relaxation Techniques on Pain Intensity in Patients After a Cesarean Section: A Case Study
Keywords:
Acute Pain, Cesarean Section, Deep Breathing Relaxation, Maternal Nursing, Numeric Rating Scale.Abstract
Acute pain is a common postoperative problem following cesarean section and may interfere with maternal mobility, rest, comfort, and daily caregiving activities. Deep breathing relaxation is a simple, low-cost non-pharmacological intervention that can be integrated into nursing care to support postoperative pain management. This study aimed to describe the application of deep breathing relaxation and changes in pain intensity among patients following cesarean section. An empirical descriptive case-study design was applied to five postpartum women who had undergone cesarean section and received inpatient care at four hospitals in Batang and Pekalongan, Indonesia. Pain intensity was measured using the Numeric Rating Scale before and after the intervention, which was administered once to twice daily for 10–15 minutes per session throughout a 3 × 24-hour hospitalization period. All participants demonstrated decreased pain intensity, with individual pre-intervention scores of 5, 3, 8, 6, and 6 and a mean score of 5.6, which decreased to post-intervention scores of 2, 2, 3, 2, and 3 with a mean of 2.4. The mean reduction was 3.2 points, and all participants reached the mild-pain category at final assessment, indicating that deep breathing relaxation may serve as a feasible complementary nursing intervention for post-cesarean pain management. The findings remain descriptive because standard postoperative care, including analgesic therapy, continued and no control group was included, limiting causal interpretation of the observed changes.
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