Abstract
Objective
To compare the personal preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians
regarding a range of physical, psychosocial and pharmacological methods of pain relief
for childbirth.
Method
Self-completed questionnaires were posted to a consecutive sample of 400 pregnant
women booked-in to a large tertiary referral centre for maternity care in South Australia.
A similar questionnaire was distributed to a national sample of 500 obstetricians
as well as 425 midwives at: (1) the same hospital as the pregnant women, (2) an outer-metropolitan
teaching hospital and (3) a district hospital. Eligible response rates were: pregnant
women 31% (n = 123), obstetricians 50% (n = 242) and midwives 49% (n = 210).
Findings
Overall, midwives had a greater personal preference for most of the physical pain
relief methods and obstetricians a greater personal preference for pharmacological
methods than the other groups. Pregnant women's preferences were generally located
between the two care provider groups, though somewhat closer to the midwives. All
groups had the greatest preference for having a support person for labour with more
than 90% of all participants wanting such support. The least preferred method for
pregnant women was pethidine/morphine (14%).
Conclusion
There are differences in the personal preferences of pregnant women, midwives and
obstetricians regarding pain relief for childbirth. It is important that the pain
relief methods available in maternity care settings reflect the informed preferences
of pregnant women.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 27, 2012
Accepted:
December 8,
2011
Received in revised form:
October 31,
2011
Received:
March 16,
2011
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2011 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
