L abor pain is an unavoidable and unpleasant experience a mother has to undergo during the time of delivery. In 2019, globally 81 percent of births were assisted by skilled health professionals, which generally includes a medical doctor, nurse or midwife (Unicef, 2021). In India (2016), 90 percent of the deliveries are conducted in health facilities but the rate of caesarean delivery increased to 17.2 percent where WHO recommends only 10-15 percent. Cae- sarean section rates were high especially in Southern states like Telangana at 57.7 percent and Tamil Nadu at 34.1 percent (NHS-2016) (Spoorthy, 2019). Need for the study: New generation mothers like to make the labour process a memorable event for which pain management is need of the hour. Labour pain can be relieved by various pharmacological, comple- mentary and alternative methods. Pilewska-Kozak et al (2017) revealed that most of the puerperal women are interested in non-pharmacological methods of pain relief. One among the no-pharmacological meth- od is Shiatsu massage. It is a non-invasive procedure, a Japanese form of complementary medicine, means nger pressure. This massage was done along the acu- pressure energy meridian points. Acupressure points Effectiveness of Shiatsu Massage on First Stage Labour Pain among Parturient Mothers  The authors are: 1. Student, 2. Reader, both at Apollo College of Nurs- ing, Chennai; 3. Professor-cum-Principal, College of Nursing, AIIMS, New Delhi. Abstract Childbirth is an experience in a woman’s life that holds the power to transform her forever. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of Shiatsu massage upon rst stage Labour pain among the parturient mothers. In this pre-test, post-test experimental study, 60 parturient mothers were selected by simple random sampling technique among which 30 were assigned to the control group and 30 mothers to the experimental group. The labour pain level was assessed by the visual pain analogue scale, and foeto maternal parameters using modi- ed WHO partograph before and after intervention for both control and experimental group of parturient mothers. The experimental group was provided with Shiatsu massage on UB30 of the sacro-meridian region for 10 minutes for every two hours along with the routine care and the control group was treated only with the routine care during the labour process. The results showed a signicant difference in after therapy pain score, at p<0.001 between the control and experimental group. The foeto maternal parameters like foetal heart rate, uterine contrac- tion and cervical dilatation was stable throughout the labour process. The Shiatsu massage was effective in reducing the level of labour pain perception. The management of labour pain is a primary responsibility of the nurse. Midwives can be empowered to provide Shiatsu massage as non-pharmacological pain management during childbirth. Key words: Shiatsu massage, Labor pain, First stage labour, Parturient mothers used for labour pain reduction are LI4, SP6 & UB 30. In India, no literature exists to support the Shiatsu massage for labour pain relief, although it could be practiced easily and safely by midwives. Hence the re- searcher felt its importance to assess the effectiveness of Shiatsu massage upon rst stage labour pain. Review of Literature Batool et al (2015) conducted randomised control trials to evaluate the effect of Shiatsu Technique on Labor Induction in Post-Term Pregnancy; 288 women with post-term pregnancy, who referred to consulting clinic at Ali- Ibn- Abi -Talib Hospital, in Zahedan-Iran in 2010-2011 were selected as samples through ran- dom tables. Shiatsu technique was conducted on the participants of intervention group on three points by an experienced midwife. The results revealed that 82 women (56.9%) in Shiatsu group had spontaneous initiation of labour, whereas the number of women was only 12 (8.3%) in control group. The study con- cludes that Shiatsu technique can be used as one of safe complementary methods for post-term pregnan- cy induction. Systematic review on relaxation technique for pain management in labour was conducted by Smith et al (2018). Massage, reexology and other manual methods for pain management in labour were re- 177 