Background: This study aimed to
determine the effectiveness of aroma hand treatment in alleviating fatigue and
promoting relaxation of mothers in their early postpartum period. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with a two-group pretest-post-test design which used purposive sampling and non-random assignment
of 242 consenting Japanese early postpartum mothers who were patients from a
hospital maternity unit in Tokyo, Japan. The intervention involved a 20-minute
aroma hand treatment using an effleurage method. The participants selected from
5 essential oils: pure lavender, ylang-ylang, citron, rosewood, and sweet
orange. Relaxation promotion and fatigue
alleviation as the main outcomes were measured using self-administered
valid and reliable questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed using the
two-sample t-test, two-way factorial ANOVA, and simple main effect test. SPSS
ver. 23.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis at a 5%
significance level. Results: Of 242 participants (intervention group, n
= 122; comparison group, n = 120), 229 participants (intervention group, n =
115; comparison group, n = 114) were analyzed per protocol. The intervention
group showed a significant improvement in relaxation (t = 6.43, p < 0.001). A significant difference in the simple main effect test of
relaxation (F = 37.58, p < 0.001) was found. However, there was no significant
reduction in fatigue. The majority (88.4%) of the participants indicated high
satisfaction with the aroma hand treatment, and 90.5% evaluated the length of
intervention time as appropriate. Conclusions: The aroma hand treatment
effectively promoted relaxation of early postpartum mothers, but was less
effective in alleviating their fatigue. Based on their high satisfaction rate,
aroma hand treatment using essential oils may be considered effective in
promoting relaxation of early postpartum mothers.