The knowledge of puerperae about non-pharmacological methods for pain relief during childbirth

Abstract

The use of non-pharmacological methods for the relief of pain in parturients increases pain tolerance, providing benefits for most women and participation in the birth process. These practices are designed to make birth the most natural possible, reducing interventions, unnecessary Csections, and the administration of drugs. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the knowledge of mothers about philanthropic maternity in relation to pain relief methods, verfying their opinions, and identfying the most applied technique; this was a quantitative study with the participation of 120 puerperae. The interviews were conducted during hospitalization in the maternity infirmary between February and March of 2012 and addressed issues related to socio-demographic profiles and non-pharmacological methods for the relief of labor pain. The results show that this group is characterized by young mothers, primiparous, in stable relationships, with an average education, mostly unemployed, and with a predominance of vaginal birth. The knowledge of methods during the entire pregnancy period is poor because only 23% of women knew any technique to releve pain during childbirth. Their opinion on the application of these methods was reported with mixed feelings of relief and intensfication of pain, however, favoring the evolution of labor quickly and efficiently. The most used and considered effective and comfortable technique was showering. This study showed that the focus of deficiency in the knowledge about such methods is not in the maternities, but in the prenatal care.