Objective: To examine the effects of laughter therapy on secretory IgA (sIgA) in postpartum women.
Methods: The study used a nonequivalent control group with nonsynchronized design. The participants were 76 postpartum women who agreed to participate in this study and were selected by convenience sampling (experimental group, n = 38; control group, n = 38). The data were collected from December 15, 2009, to April 8, 2010. The experimental group participated in a postpartum laughter program from a laughter therapy expert for 60 minutes per session, twice a week for 2 weeks, for a total of four sessions. To evaluate the effects of the postpartum laughter program, sIgA levels in breast milk were measured. The data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 20.0 software.
Results: Immune response (sIgA) significantly differed between the experimental and control groups.
Conclusion: A postpartum laughter program can be applied as a complementary and alternative intervention to postpartum women in a transitional mother-infant care center.