Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Methods of Labour Pain Relief—Establishment of Effectiveness and Comparison

Iwona Czech, Piotr Fuchs, Anna Fuchs, Miłosz Lorek, Dominika Tobolska-Lorek, Agnieszka Drosdzol-Cop and Jerzy Sikora
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Iwona Czech: Department of Pregnancy Pathology, Department of Woman’s Health, School of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland
Piotr Fuchs: Student’s Scientific Organisation of Gyneacology, Obstetrics and Sexology, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland
Anna Fuchs: Department of Pregnancy Pathology, Department of Woman’s Health, School of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland
Miłosz Lorek: Student’s Scientific Organisation of Gyneacology, Obstetrics and Sexology, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland
Dominika Tobolska-Lorek: Student’s Scientific Organisation of Gyneacology, Obstetrics and Sexology, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland
Agnieszka Drosdzol-Cop: Department of Pregnancy Pathology, Department of Woman’s Health, School of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland
Jerzy Sikora: Department of Pregnancy Pathology, Department of Woman’s Health, School of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Background : To evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain relief methods and to compare them. Materials and methods : 258 women were included in the study and interviewed using a questionnaire and the visual analogue scale for pain. They were divided into six groups depending on chosen method of labour pain relief: epidural anaesthesia (EA; n = 42), water immersion and water birth (WB; n = 40), nitrous oxide gas for pain control (G; n = 40), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) ( n = 50), multiple management (MM; n = 42), none (N; n = 44). Results : The average age of the women was 29.4 ± 3.74 years and 60.47% of them were nulliparous ( n = 156). Mean values of labour pain intensity were 6.81 ± 2.26 during the first stage of labour; 7.86 ± 2.06 during the second stage, and 3.22 ± 2.46 during the third stage. There was no significant difference in pain level between epidural analgesia and gas groups in the first stage of labour ( p = 0.74). Nevertheless, epidural analgesia reduced pain level during the second and third stage (both p < 0.01). The highest satisfaction level pertains to water immersion ( n = 38; 95%). Conclusion : Epidural analgesia is the gold standard of labour pain relief, however water birth was found to be associated with the highest satisfaction level of the parturient women. The contentment of childbirth depends not only on the level of experienced pain, but also on the care provided to the parturient during pregnancy and labour.

Keywords: labour pain; water immersion; TENS; epidural anaesthesia; pain relief (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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