title: Pain relief for childbirth: the preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the personal preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians regarding a range of physical, psychosocial and pharmacological methods of pain relief for childbirth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-completed questionnaires were posted to a consecutive sample of 400 pregnant women booked-in to a large tertiary referral centre for maternity care in South Australia. A similar questionnaire was distributed to a national sample of 500 obstetricians as well as 425 midwives at: (1) the same hospital as the pregnant women, (2) an outer-metropolitan teaching hospital and (3) a district hospital. Eligible response rates were: pregnant women 31% (n=123), obstetricians 50% (n=242) and midwives 49% (n=210).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, midwives had a greater personal preference for most of the physical pain relief methods and obstetricians a greater personal preference for pharmacological methods than the other groups. Pregnant women's preferences were generally located between the two care provider groups, though somewhat closer to the midwives. All groups had the greatest preference for having a support person for labour with more than 90% of all participants wanting such support. The least preferred method for pregnant women was pethidine/morphine (14%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are differences in the personal preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians regarding pain relief for childbirth. It is important that the pain relief methods available in maternity care settings reflect the informed preferences of pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, South Australia, Australia. klmadden@utas.edu.au
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Madden
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turnbull
authors.forename: Allan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cyna
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adelson
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D048949:Labor Pain / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000523:psychology*; D009774:Obstetrics; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods; D057240:Patient Preference; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013021:South Australia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires