Assessment and documentation of women's labour pain : A cross-sectional study in Swedish delivery wards

• Background: A woman's pain during labour plays a dominant role in childbirth. The midwife's role is to assess the degree of pain experienced during labour. When professionals respond to labour pain with acknowledgement and understanding, the woman's sense of control and empowerment is increased, which could contribute to a positive experience of childbirth. The aim of this study is to describe how labour pain in Swedish delivery wards is assessed and documented. Methods: This quantitative descriptive study was designed as a national survey performed through telephone interviews with the representatives of 34 delivery wards in Sweden. Results and conclusion: The majority of the participating delivery wards assessed and documented women's labour pain, but in an unstructured manner. The wards differed in how the assessments and documentation were performed. In addition, almost all the delivery wards that participated in the survey lacked guidelines for the assessment and documentation of the degree of pain during labour. The findings also showed that the issue of labour pain was sometimes discussed in the delivery wards, but not in a structured or consistent way. (C) 2015 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Australia (a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd). All rights reserved.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Reproduktionsmedicin och gynekologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Pain assessment

Childbirth

Documentation

Midwifery

Visual analogue scale

Woman, Child and Family (WomFam)

Kvinna, barn och familj (WomFam)

Äldre och åldrande

Age and Ageing

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)