Butorphanol in epidural:Could this be the breakthrough solution for safe and effective labor analgesia that we've been waiting for?

The authors have conducted a comprehensive investigation into the safety and effectiveness of butorphanol for epidural analgesia during labor.Their critical analysis of the paper and discussion of the technique's advantages and disadvantages provide a thorough understanding of the topic.

A comparison of maternal fear of childbirth,labor pain intensity and intrapartum analgesic consumption between primiparas and multiparas:A cross-sectional study

Objectives:To describe and compare fear of childbirth and in-labor pain intensity between primiparas and multiparas and explore the association between the amount of actual pain relief and fear of childbirth.Methods:A convenience sampling method was used.A total of 260 women undergoing spontaneous or induced labor,including 97 primiparas and 163 multiparas,were recruited in a large academic specialized hospital in Guangzhou,China,from February 2018 to August 2019.The clinical data of maternal and neonatal were extracted from a structured electronic medical record system.Other demographic information,such as employment and family monthly income,was collected by a questionnaire.The Numeric Rating Scale(NRS)and the Chinese version of the Childbirth Attitude Questionnaire(C-CAQ)were applied to assess maternal in-labor pain intensity and fear of childbirth.The analgesic consumption and the frequency of manual boluses as rescue analgesia were stored and collected from the analgesia pump.Results:Eighty-two(84.5%)primiparas and ninety-nine(60.7%)multiparas received epidural analgesia(P<0.001).In the epidural subgroup,the primiparous average fear of childbirth(36.46±10.93)was higher than that of the multiparas(32.06±10.23)(P¼0.007).However,multiparas reported more intense in-labor pain[8.0(8.0,9.0)vs.8.0(7.0,8.0)],had more successful manual boluses per hour[2.68(1.65,3.85)vs.1.77(0.90,2.47)],more hourly analgesic consumption[23.00(16.00,28.25)vs.17.24(11.52,21.36)mL]and more average analgesic consumption[0.35(0.24,0.45)vs.0.26(0.19,0.35)mL/(h$kg)]than the primiparas(P<0.05).Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that the maximum in-labor pain was weakly positively correlated with fear of childbirth(r¼0.09)(P<0.05),hourly analgesic consumption(r¼0.16)(P<0.01)and average analgesic consumption(r¼0.17)(P<0.05).No statistically significant association was uncovered between analgesic consumption and maternal fear of childbirth.Conclusions:Fear of childbirth is a potential predictor of labor pain intensity.Further study is needed to explore its role and value in pain management during delivery.Parity is not a determinant of pain relief use and should not be a preconceived preference of obstetric care team members to determine the distribution of epidural analgesia,especially when analgesia resources are insufficient.

Women’s Awareness and Attitudes towards Labor Analgesia Influencing Practice between Developed and Developing Countries

Childbirth experience is one of the most intense pain that majority of women will endure during their lifetime. Concerns about pain in labor remain a hot topic, and its popularity gets more common day by day as more women become aware of their rights to achieve a better quality of care during labor. There are various non-pharmacologic (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, hydrotherapy, intradermal water injections and acupuncture) and pharmacologic treatments (nitrous oxide, opioids and regional analgesia techniques: spinal, epidural and combined epidural analgesia) available today. Among these, epidural analgesia offers the most effective form of pain relief and is considered to be the gold standard of labor analgesia. Despite having labor analgesic services, most women still go through painful labor due to lack of knowledge regarding it, particularly in developing countries. The main source of information regarding pain reliefs is from friends and relatives, revealing the lack of information from caregiver’s side. So this study reflects that there is a wide gap in the communication between pregnant women and obstetricians. It supports the fact that obstetricians through the practice of routinely offering labor analgesia can significantly improve the maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancy. Provision of standardized epidural analgesia information at an appropriate time in their pregnancy may benefit them by the practice of mutual decision-making. Thus, it may prevent women from making a difficult choice of cesarean section to avoid the fear of painful labor.

Midwives’ utilization of nonpharmacological pain relief measures for labor pain management: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Objectives:This study sought to examine midwives’utilization of nonpharmacological pain relief measures in labor pain management and to test the relationship between midwives’knowledge and utilization of nonpharmacological pain relief measures for labor pain management in secondary health facility in Calabar,Cross River State,Nigeria.Materials and Methods:A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for the study.The study was rooted in Katherine Kolcaba’s Comfort theory.Totally,67 participants were recruited for the study using the purposive sampling technique.A self-made structured questionnaire was used to obtain participants’information on knowledge,utilization,and predictors of nonpharmacological pain relief measures.Results:Although 41(61.2%)of the participants had knowledge about nonpharmacological pain relief measures,few did not know some of the cognitive-behavioral and environmental measures in labor pain management.There was 35.8%(24/67)for utilization of cognitive-behavioral measures and 55.2%(37/67)for psychological/emotional measures for labor pain management by respondents,respectively.Fifty(74.6%)of respondents agreed that predictors such as lack of knowledge,lack of updates and training,work experience,best practice guidelines,and equipment were hindrances to utilization.There was statistically significance in relationship between the level of knowledge and utilization of nonpharmacological pain relief measures(r=0.6,P<0.05).Conclusion:The utilization of nonpharmacological measures for labor pain management is low,thus it is recommended that frequent education,training updates on effective labor pain management,provision of clinical guidelines on labor pain management,and enrichment of midwifery training curriculum are imperative to ensure quality labor pain management and positive health outcome.

Level of Labor Pain, Level of Labor Pain Behaviors, and Cultural Pain Behaviors among First-Time Indonesian Muslim Mothers

Background: Many factors influence the expressions of pain in primiparous women aside from contractions of the uterus. Objective: This study aimed to describe the level labor pain, level of labor pain behaviors based on cultural pain behaviors at 3 - 4 cm of cervical dilation or the beginning of the active phase of labor among primiparous Muslim women in Indonesia. Methods: This was a study with 42 primiparous Muslim women who gave birth in the labor room at Bhinneka Bhakti Husada Hospital and Community Health Center Pamulang, Indonesia from June until January 2017. The women were asked to describe on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale the intensity of level of labor pain in their abdomen during the last contractions at 3 - 4 cm of cervical dilation, and Pain Behaviors Observation Scale to observe pain behaviors. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings showed that the mean score of level of labor pain at 3 - 4 cm of cervical dilation was 86.38 (SD = 4.47) and most participants experienced high level of labor pain (97.6%). The expression of cultural labor pain behaviors including saying praises to Allah, Asma’aul husna, reciting the Qur’an, sholawat.

Labor Pain Treated with Acupuncture or Acupressure

Opioid-dependent women have an 80% to 90% unintended pregnancy rate, almost double the overall unintended pregnancy rate: 40% globally and 51% in north America. The prescription drug abuse milieu increases the possibility opioid abusing laboring patients. In 2012, neonatal abstinence syndrome occurred in 5.8 per 1000 hospital births. Non-pharmacological labor pain management (NPLPM) is especially recommended for laboring patients with a history of substance abuse. Therefore, literature review was performed to elucidate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, noninvasive electro-acupuncture (EA), and acupressure in labor pain management. Compared to standard intrapartum controls, bilateral EA at JiaJin or Sanyinjiao significantly reduced visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores 30-minutes post intervention (p < 0.01) and Stage 1 active phase labor length (p < 0.05). EA achieves shorter Stage 2 labor than patient-controlled epidural analgesia (p = 0.05);and 10-point lower VAS pain scores and reduced cesarean delivery rate than no-analgesia controls, p < 0.05. Current evidence indicates that EA should have a role in NPLPM, and that acupressure may have a role in NPLPM. Nevertheless, future RCTs could strengthen the argument for increased EA and acupressure use in NPLPM.

Effect of moxibustion at Sānyīnjiāo (三阴交 SP 6) on uterine contraction pain in labor: a randomized controlled trial

Objective To investigate the effect of moxibustion at Sanyinjiao （三阴交 SP 6） for uterine contraction pain in labor, and evaluate the safety of the parturient and newborn. Methods One hundred and seventy-four cases of singleton pregnancy and cephalic presentation primipara were single blinded and randomly divided into three groups： observation group （59 cases）, placebo treated group （57 cases） and blank group （58 cases）.The observation group was treated with moxibustion at Sanyinjiao （三阴交 SP 6） for 30 min when the uterus cervix openning at 3 cm,the placebo treated group was treated with moxibustion at non-aeupoint for 30 min and the blank group was treated with routine labor nursing, the uterine contraction pain and the safety of the mother and infant were compared among three groups. Results （1） The uterine contraction pain was tested by Visual Analogue Scale （VAS）： the scores of VAS in the observation group were obviously decreased after 15 min and 30 min of moxibustion （both P〈0.05）, there were no obvious changes of the VAS scores in placebo treated group and the blank group, the scores of VAS in observation group decreased much more obviously than those in the other two groups （all P〈0.05）; （2）Midwife rating of the uterine contraction pain： after 30 min of moxibustion, the effective rate of labor analgesia was 69.5%（41/59） in observation group, which was higher than that of 45.6% （26/57） in placebo treated group and 43.1% （25/58） in blank group, with significant differences between them （both P〈0.05）; @The postpartum hemorrhage amount of the observation group was obviously lower than those of placebo treated group and blank group （both P〈0.05）; （4）The Apgar score of newborn was higher in observation group and placebo treated group than that of blank group （both P〈0.05）. Conclusion Moxibustion at Sanyinjiao （三阴交 SP 6） can relieve the uterine contraction pain, and has no side effect to mother and infant, it is one of the safe, effective and simple non-drug analgesia methods.

Effectiveness of breathing exercises during the second stage of labor on labor pain and duration： a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND： Some research exists on the effect of non-pharmacological approaches for labor pain relief However, there is limited information about effectiveness of breathing exercises in pregnant women to reduce maternal pain during labor. OBJECTIVE： To determine whether breathing exercises for pregnant women during the second stage of labor have beneficial effects on maternal pain, duration of labor, and the first-minute Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiration （APGAR） scores. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS： This randomized clinical trial involved 250 pregnant women, who were randomly divided into two groups： intervention group （IG; n = 125） and control group （CG; n = 125）. IG received one session breathing exercise training and performed breathing exercises during the second stage of labor versus the CG that did not receive any breathing exercise training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： The effects of breathing exercises on maternal pain were determined by Visual Analogue Scale （VAS）, duration of the second stage of labor, and the first-minute APGAR scores. RESULTS： The mean age of the participants was （23.2 _＋ 4.2） （range： 18 to 42） years. Both IG and CG had similar baseline characteristics in terms of age, education level, occupation, and smoking （P 〉 0.05）. The mean VAS scores of IG and CG were （88.2 ＋_ 6.3） and （90.5 ＋_ 7.0）, respectively （P 〈 0.001）. The duration of the second stage of labor was （369.6 ＋ 92.0） s for IG and （440.7 ＋ 142.5） s for CG （P 〈 0.001 ）. The mean first-minute APGAR scores were （8.84 ＋ 0.50） for IG and （8.73 ＋ 0.89） for CG （P 〉 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Based on this study, breathing exercises with deep inhalation and exhalation in pregnant women are effective in reducing the perception of labor pain and shortening the duration of the second stage of delivery. Therefore, we recommend breathing exercises as an effective modality for labor pain management and shortening the duration of labor. TRIAL REGISTRATION： This study is registered on the website of ClinicalTrials.gov （www.clinicaltrials.gov） with the number of NCT03066973.

Effectiveness of acupuncture versus spinal-epidural anesthesia on labor pain： a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia(AA) compared with combined spinal-epidural anesthesia(CSEA) for labor pain relief and labor outcomes.METHODS: We evaluated 131 primiparous women who received respiratory guidance during maternal uterine contractions and received either AA(n =43), CSEA(n = 45), or no additional treatment(control, n = 43). The groups were compared regarding visual analog scale(VAS) scores for abdominal and back pain, and labor outcomes.RESULTS: The abdominal VAS scores of the AA and CSEA groups were significantly lower than that of the control group. In addition, the VAS scores of the CSEA group were significantly lower than that of the AA group at 10 and 60 min after intervention.The back pain VAS scores of the AA and CSEA groups were significantly lower than that of the control group at 5, 10, and 60 min after intervention. The duration of the active phase of labor in the CSEA group was significantly longer than that of the AA and control groups. The rates of oxytocin use(4.70%), urinary retention(4.70%), and postpartum hemorrhage [(273.7 ± 53.6) m L] in the AA group were significantly lower than in the CSEA group [46.70%, 24.20%, and(320.0 ± 85.6) m L, respectively].CONCLUSION: Both AA and CSEA were effective for labor pain relief, CSEA provided more effective pain relief, while AA was associated with a shorter duration of labor and fewer adverse effects.and each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Research Progress of Acupuncture Analgesia for Labor

Labor pain is a kind of severe pain the lying-in women of natural childbirth must undergo. The labor quality is decided by the tolerance to pain. Acupuncture analgesia for labor pain has been increasingly concerned and applied by more and more clinical workers because of its safety and efficacy. By summarizing and analyzing the choice and applications of various factors of acupuncture analgesia for labor pain such as acupoint selection, instrument analgesic coefficient, and the needling techniques in acupuncture analgesia for labor pain in the recent 12 years, this study aims to provide a theoretical foundation for the clinical application of acupuncture analgesia for labor pain.

Effect of acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on labor pain in nulliparous women:a randomized controlled trial

Objective To examine the effect of acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(ACUTENS)on labor pain in nulliparous women.Methods This randomized clinical trial was conducted at Razi Hospital in Qazvin,Iran between January and July 2018.After the screening process,144 out of 184 pregnant women were selected by convenience sampling and assigned to an intervention group or a control group by the block randomization method.The intervention group received ACUTENS at Hegu(LI4),Shenmen(HT7),Sanyinjiao(SP6),and Neimadian(Extra)during various stages of delivery in addition to routine labor care at the delivery room.For the control group,the same routine labor care was performed alone.The severity of pain was assessed in the two groups using the visual analog scale(VAS).The data were analyzed using R software(ver.4.0.2)and repeated measurement analysis of variance.Results ACUTENS reduced the mean score of pain intensity in the first stage of labor in the intervention group more than that in the control group(P<0.001).Also,the mean scores of pain intensity in the second stage of labor,episiotomy,and one hour after delivery in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P<0.001).Conclusion ACUTENS at Hegu(LI4),Shenmen(HT7),Sanyinjiao(SP6),and Neimadian(Extra)can decrease the intensity of labor pain in nulliparous women.It can be used as a non-pharmacological method for reducing pain in and after labor.