BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Postpartum pain and painful uterine contractions normally occur after childbirth and are regarded as one of the most common problems after delivery. Postpartum pain is significantly intensified by increased parity. Therefore, mothers are forced to use chemical drugs to inhibit this pain. Considering the side-effects of chemical drugs and the growing tendency towards herbal medicines, we aimed to compare the effects of fennel extracts and mefenamic acid on postpartum pain.

METHODS: This single-blind, clinical trial was conducted on 86 mothers with postpartum pain after vaginal delivery at Baharloo Hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2014-2015. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups (43 cases per group), receiving fennelin (fennel extracts) and mefenamic acid capsules. Postpartum pain was measured two hours after childbirth, using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Volunteers with scores higher than four were included in the study. Pain intensity was measured by VAS before and one hour after each round of intervention. Subjects used the medicines four times a day (with 4-6 hour intervals). The collected data were statistically analyzed (IRCT: 2014020515338N2)

FINDINGS: The mean score of pain before the intervention was 6.47±0.797 in the mefenamic acid group and 6.35±0.752 in the fennel group. In both groups, pain score significantly reduced one hour after using medicines in comparison with the pre-treatment period (1.90±0.56 and 1.70±0.74 in the mefenamic acid and fennel groups, respectively) (p<0.05). During the study, fennel was more effective than mefenamic acid in pain reduction. The same finding was reported after the study during the fourth round of intervention (88±0.70 and 1.19±0.76 in the fennel and mefenamic acid groups, respectively).

CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, fennel, similar to mefenamic acid, could be suggested as an effective herbal medicine for pain reduction in mothers with complaints of postpartum pain.