A study exploring the impact of aromatherapy with lavender essence on labor pain severity and duration of labor affirmed the therapeutic analgesic efficacy of lavender essence aromatherapy for women in labor. Published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, this single-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted on 120 pregnant women in two groups. The experimental group received two drops of lavender essence inhaled at three stages (4–5, 6–7, 8–9 centimeters cervical dilation), and severity of the labor pain and duration of labor was measured before and after intervention. The control group was treated with distilled water as a placebo in a similar way.
The results showed that the difference in the labor pain before and after intervention in the two groups was significant. But there was no difference in average duration of the active phase and the second stage of labor between the two groups.