Pain relief for childbirth: The preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians

Utilization of Obstetric Analgesia in Labor Pain Management and associated Factors among Obstetric Care Givers in Amhara Regional State Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia: A Hospital based Cross Sectional Study

“…Obstetric care givers who had diploma (low level qualification) were 2.69 times more likely to use obstetric analgesia methods than professionals who had second degree and above. This finding is similar with study done in Australia on preference of analgesia between midwives and obstetricians showing more midwives use non-pharmacologic methods while obstetrician more practices pharmacologic analgesics [33]. It is also in agreement with utilization of obstetric analgesia in Bangladesh showing primary health care providers favors supportive care(non-pharmacologic methods) during labour [5].…”

“…So this implication is reflected by their utilization what they know (non-pharmacologic). This is supported by study done in Australia showing that more midwives prefer nonpharmacologic while obstetricians prefer pharmacologic methods for labour pain relief [33].…”

The Complementary Therapies for Labour and Birth Study making sense of labour and birth – Experiences of women, partners and midwives of a complementary medicine antenatal education course

“…The majority of primiparous women are healthy and low risk (no pre-existing medical complications or existing obstetric complications), and birth itself is not considered pathological. Despite this, most women will experience a technology-intense labour and birth, and report lower levels of satisfaction with interventions such as epidural analgesia (Madden, Turnbull, Cyna, Adelson, & Wilkinson, 2013). Additionally, women state that they believe interventions should be reserved for when medically necessary (Lothian, 2007).…”

Women's preferences and received pain relief in childbirth – A prospective longitudinal study in a northern region of Sweden

“…While midwives often prefer non-pharmacological pain relief methods such as bath and heat pack, obstetricians' preferences are more likely to include pharmacological methods. The pregnant women stand somewhere in-between the care providers, somewhat closer to the midwives' preferences for pain relief methods [14]. Pregnant women need adequate information about safe and reliable methods for managing labour pain with no influences of care providers' interests and preferences [3].…”