Improving obstetric outcomes is a global priority. The prescription of non-pharmacological (NPA) or pharmacological analgesia (PA) as well as evidence-based interventions for pain relief are recommended. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate pain and analgesia prescription prevalence among low-risk pregnant women in labor. We used post-labor interviews, assessing pain using Analogue Pain Scale, and medical record reviews, from July to October 2022. Of the 277 participants, 215 (77.61%) were interviewed in the Obstetric Center (OC) and 62 (22.38%) in the midwife-led ward (MLW). In the MLW and OC, the prevalence of NPA prescription was 82.51% and 61.86%, respectively. Mean pain score (PS) in the MLW and OC was 9.09 and 8.93, respectively, on hospital arrival. Severe PS significantly decreased from 84.48% to 61.22% (χ2=21.05) and from 92.16% to 69.50% (χ2=42.04) in the MLW and OC, respectively after NPA. PA prescription rate was 15.81%. Mean PS after PA was 3.41 and severe PS was significantly reduced (χ2=19.05). A significant delay in analgesia prescription was recorded. Request for analgesia was associated with incomplete primary school (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13 – 0.84) and severe pain (OR 8.18, 95%CI 1.91 - 35.02). PA prescription was associated with delivery performed by a team of doctors and nurses (OR 2.20, 95%CI 1.08 -4.49, p 0.02) and time of labor >8 hours (OR 7.45, 95%CI 3.27 – 16.99). Both NPA and PA significantly reduced severe pain. Findings underscore the importance of clinical staff training on appropriate analgesia pain management considering patient preferences, timing, and type of analgesia.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.