COMPLEMENTARY AND INTEGRATIVE THERAPIES AS A NURSING INTERVENTION IN STAGES OF THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE PROCESS

Abstract

Women have always cared for their children’s and relatives’ health with elements that nature has provided: plants (herbal medicine and aromatherapy), the sun (heliotherapy), water (hydrotherapy), and even with their own hands as the only resource.

Nursing has taken advantage of these natural therapies as complementary tools in nursing care.

The classification used by the Official College of Nurses of Barcelona (COIB) for these therapies is divided into five categories or domains: alternative medical systems, mind-body interventions, biology-based therapies, methods of manipulating the body, and energy-based therapies.

In Spain today, there is controversy over the acceptance and regulation of natural therapies. To contribute to the advance of our regulations and to develop deeper knowledge of complementary and integrative therapies, we have dedicated this issue of Musas: Revista de Investigación en Mujer, Salud y Sociedad (Muses: Journal of Research into Women, Health and Society) to therapies that are applied to women in stages of the reproductive process, including labour, postpartum, puerperium and breastfeeding, and specifically in the case of endometriosis.