Healing Touch After Cesarean

Pain and anxiety are the most common complications after cesarean birth, and impair the mother's ability to optimally care for herself and her newborn. It is important for health care providers to evaluate options post-operatively to maximize symptom management and quality of care for these patients, including the option of complementary therapies such as Healing Touch (HT). This study examines the effects of HT after cesarean delivers , including the differences between pain (Numeric Rating Scale) and anxiety (Numeric Rating scale) through a Randomized Control Trial study design. The total sample size for the proposed study will include 160 participants. The study will include patients' age ≥18 years. Based on their randomization, the study coordinator at each site will schedule either 1) a Healing Touch (HT) practitioner for the intervention group OR 2) a non-HT practitioner who will collect data for the control group. HT practitioner will verify consent, then ask the woman to complete baseline measurements of pain and anxiety. Levels of pain and anxiety will be reassessed post-intervention.