The study was conducted to determine the effect of consumption of date fruit and nipple stimulation on labor.

The samples were applied to pregnant women satisfying the research criteria in a state hospital in Istanbul between October 2013 and June 2014.

The study was designed to be randomly controlled. Block randomization method was used to determine the experimental and control groups. Randomization was done by a biostatistician outside the researcher. 198 pregnant women were randomly assigned to the date fruit, nipple and control groups. From the 37th gestational age to the onset of labor, 6 date fruits were consumed per day by the date fruit group and the nipple stimulation was applied 6 minutes per day for the nipple group. No intervention was made for the control group. For the collection of research data, "Structured Information Form" and "Wijma Birth Expectancy / Experience Scale Version" were used.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women who nulliparous at the 37th gestational age, have singleton pregnancy, have the BMI is less than 25 kg/m2, planning to have a normal vaginal delivery, have vertex presentation, a volunteer to participate in the study, no smoking in pregnancy and have moderate birth fear according to W-DEQ were included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women who have risk pregnancy (such as preterm labor risk, preeclampsia eclampsia, premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, gestational diabetes, fetal anomaly and chronic diseases) were excluded in the study.

Pregnant Women