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Intrapartum pain management at the Royal Hospital for Women
Author(s) -
HENRY Amanda,
NAND Swaran L.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.2004.00231.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical dilation , pethidine , labor pain , obstetrics , pain management , analgesic , vaginal delivery , parity (physics) , anesthesia , pregnancy , genetics , gestation , physics , particle physics , biology
Aims: To explore use of, and women's satisfaction with, intrapartum pain management at Royal Hospital for Women (RHW), Sydney, Australia. Methods: From October 2002 to January 2003 women aged over 16 who had been in labour at RHW were given a questionnaire to complete in the first week post‐partum regarding their intrapartum pain management. Supplementary information was obtained from patient records. Results: A total of 496 women participated (69% response rate), including 95 birth centre clients. The mean age was 32 years and 73% percent had a normal vaginal delivery. At least one form of pain management (‘natural’, nitrous oxide, pethidine, epidural, local infiltration of the perineum) was used by 463 (93%) women, with 74% using two or more methods. Labour pain was ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ than expected for 55%. Seventy‐two percent were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with overall pain management. Epidural analgesia had the highest utility scores (89%‘very useful’) and likelihood of use in subsequent labours (67%), and pethidine the lowest. Factors affecting analgesic use included cervical dilation on admission, labour length, English‐speaking background, delivery suite versus birth centre care, parity, and syntocinon use. Conclusions: Women at RHW use a variety of pain management methods in labour and most use multiple methods. Labour was rated more painful than expected by a majority; however, most were satisfied with their pain management. Labour length and cervical dilation on admission were most predictive of pain management use.