A study on expectations of labor pain included postpartum
women who had delivered single infants at term in one of two
hospitals, one in the Netherlands and one in Iowa. Within 48
hours of delivery, they were asked about their prenatal
expectations of pain in labor and measures available for
pain relief, and then about their memory of labor pain, and
whether or not they had received pain medication.
The Iowa women were significantly younger than the Dutch
women (mean age 24.7 as compared to 28.9 years). The number
of primiparas in each population was similar (52.2% of the
Iowa group and 45.5% of the Dutch). Of both groups, 12 to
13% had had their labor induced. Neonatal data were similar.
The Iowa women, in general, expected labor to be more
painful than did Dutch women, and anticipated more often
that they would receive medication for labor pain. In
virtually the same proportion as anticipated, the Iowa women
did receive analgesia. By contrast, the Dutch women did not
expect labor to be painful, tended not to anticipate
receiving analgesia, and usually did not receive any. When
asked retrospectively to assess the painfulness of labor,
both groups gave similar responses, divided roughly equally
among the choices "more painful, less painful, and about as
expected." -Obstetrics and Gynecology, April 1988
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 24 June 14, 2000)
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