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.

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.

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.