title: Assessment and documentation of women's labour pain: A cross-sectional study in Swedish delivery wards.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors: School of Health and Education, University of Skövde, P.O. Box 408, SE-541 28 Skövde, Sweden. Electronic address: ingrid.bergh@his.se.
authors: Ingrid H E
authors: IH
authors: Bergh
authors: Department of Obstetrics, University Hospital of Örebro, SE-703 62 Örebro, Sweden. Electronic address: ajo_078@hotmail.com.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Johansson
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Skaraborgs Hospital, SE-541 85 Skövde, Sweden. Electronic address: anneli.bratt@vgregion.se.
authors: Annelie
authors: A
authors: Bratt
authors: School of Health and Education, University of Skövde, P.O. Box 408, SE-541 28 Skövde, Sweden. Electronic address: anette.ekstrom@his.se.
authors: Anette
authors: A
authors: Ekström
authors: School of Health and Education, University of Skövde, P.O. Box 408, SE-541 28 Skövde, Sweden. Electronic address: lena.martensson@his.se.
authors: Lena B
authors: LB
authors: Mårtensson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D048949:Labor Pain; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D036801:Parturition; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D013548:Sweden; D064232:Visual Analog Scale; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Childbirth; Documentation; Midwifery; Pain assessment; Visual analogue scale