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

Czech, Iwona; Fuchs, Piotr; Fuchs, Anna; Lorek, Miłosz; Tobolska-Lorek, Dominika; Drosdzol-Cop, Agnieszka; Sikora, Jerzy

doi:10.3390/ijerph15122792

Open AccessArticle

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

by

Iwona Czech

^1,*

,

Piotr Fuchs

²

,

Anna Fuchs

¹,

Miłosz Lorek

²,

Dominika Tobolska-Lorek

²,

Agnieszka Drosdzol-Cop

¹

and

Jerzy Sikora

¹

Department of Pregnancy Pathology, Department of Woman’s Health, School of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland

²

Student’s Scientific Organisation of Gyneacology, Obstetrics and Sexology, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(12), 2792; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122792

Submission received: 28 October 2018 / Revised: 6 December 2018 / Accepted: 7 December 2018 / Published: 9 December 2018

(This article belongs to the Section Women's Health)

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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

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MDPI and ACS Style

Czech, I.; Fuchs, P.; Fuchs, A.; Lorek, M.; Tobolska-Lorek, D.; Drosdzol-Cop, A.; Sikora, J. Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Methods of Labour Pain Relief—Establishment of Effectiveness and Comparison. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 2792. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122792

AMA Style

Czech I, Fuchs P, Fuchs A, Lorek M, Tobolska-Lorek D, Drosdzol-Cop A, Sikora J. Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Methods of Labour Pain Relief—Establishment of Effectiveness and Comparison. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 15(12):2792. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122792

Chicago/Turabian Style

Czech, Iwona, Piotr Fuchs, Anna Fuchs, Miłosz Lorek, Dominika Tobolska-Lorek, Agnieszka Drosdzol-Cop, and Jerzy Sikora. 2018. "Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Methods of Labour Pain Relief—Establishment of Effectiveness and Comparison" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 12: 2792. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122792

APA Style

Czech, I., Fuchs, P., Fuchs, A., Lorek, M., Tobolska-Lorek, D., Drosdzol-Cop, A., & Sikora, J. (2018). Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Methods of Labour Pain Relief—Establishment of Effectiveness and Comparison. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(12), 2792. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122792

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

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