Effects Of Focus On Birth-Specific Stereogram Cards (BSSC) On Perception Of Labour Pain

Introduction Labour pain is not only sensory, but a multifaceted subjective phenomenon having emotional, motivational and cognitive dimensions .The American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and the Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) report that labour pain should be remedied by a therapy due to the maternal and fetal effects of the severe labour pain. In the management of labour pain, non-pharmacological approaches are aiming to increase maternal satisfaction, control feeling in birth and sufficiency sense, and to reduce obstetric interventions. Distraction and cognitive strategies are used to prevent the transmission of painful stimuli information to the central nervous system. In painful situations, pain transmission is prevented by distracting the attention from pain ensuring focus stimuli other pain in transmission by focusing on stimuli outside the pain.

Distraction during delivery includes the process of removing a woman's attention from the pain of birth by means of any external stimuli. Especially, determination of a focal spot enables to maintain the concentration. Images can be the focus of any object. It is seen that the "plippets" cards known as the "distraction cards" and virtual realityare used in reducing the perceived pain level. However, there was no study showing the effect of "focus and distraction" on the perceived labour pain. The stereoscopic vision technique discovered by Charles Wheatstone in 1838 is also based on focus. Stereogram is the general name of two-dimensional (2D) images that create three-dimensional (3D) perception in the mind. A person can focus the lenses on the stereograms of the lenses, zoom the eyeballs to a distant point located behind the stereogram image and thus trick the brain and allow the brain view the 3D images.The stereograms known as "squint at and be surprised" in Turkey in the 90s were popular in the "magic eye" series especially in the USA .

There are different methods to view the targeted three-dimensional image in the stereogram. Some people may see the images simply in a stereogram, while others have to educate their eyes to separate the eye convergence resulting from the focus of the lens. One of the methods that may be used is to hold the image against face so that the nose contacts with the image. Most people cannot focus on the image, while the image is too close to their eyes. If the person moves the image away from his/her face slowly, the brain will focus on pairs of patterns that correspond to the degree of convergence of the two eyeballs at one point. Another method is to look constantly at an object behind the image to obtain the suitable degree of convergence while keeping the field of view constant on the image for purpose of convincing the brain to focus on the image. In a modified method, the person constantly looks at his/her own reflection on the bright surface. Thus, it shall be ensured that the brain achieves the necessary degree of convergence when focus on the near field, and that the three-dimensional image behind the pattern is visible.

On the basis of the stereoscopic vision technique, it is thought that focusing on the stereogram cards specially prepared for birth can also be effective in reducing the labour pain perception. In this study, researchers aim to determine the effect of focusing on birth-specific stereogram cards(BSSC) on labour pain perception.

Methods Study design This research is an experimental prospective randomized controlled clinical study.