Korean J Women Health Nurs.  2003 Sep;9(3):235-244.

Differences in Physical Discomfort and Childbirth Satisfaction between Primiparous Women with and without having taken Epidural Analgesia

• Ahn SH
• Ryu KS
• Chung ES

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the difference of physical discomfort and childbirth satisfaction between postpartum women with and without having taken Epidural Analgesia. METHOD: The subjects were divided into one group of 128 primipara taken Epidural Analgesia and the other of the same 70 women who were not taken it. Data were collected by questionnaires of their own physical discomfort and birth satisfaction at postpartum 1 to 2 days in OBGY hospitals, and data were analyzed using SPSS Program. RESULT: Women having taken epidural analgesia appealed higher physical discomfort than those without it in the lower limbs exercise discomfort, difficult urination, urinary retention, nausea & vomiting, whereas appeared vice versa in breast pain. Among indicators for childbirth satisfaction, women having taken epidural analgesia preferred the same delivery method later again more than those without it.
CONCLUSION
It is confirmed that the method of epidural analgesia is not an absolute way to control labor pain, rather stir physical discomfort after childbirth and does not fully increase the women's childbirth satisfaction. Therefore, it is proposed that nurses should provide the pregnant women the right knowledge and information, thereby enabling them to select the useful method of childbirth to their own course of childbirth and health-recovering after the delivery.

Keyword

Epidural analgesia; Primiparity; Childbirth; Discomfort; Satisfaction

MeSH Terms

Analgesia, Epidural*
Female
Humans
Labor Pain
Lower Extremity
Mastodynia
Nausea
Parity
Parturition*
Postpartum Period
Pregnancy
Pregnant Women
Surveys and Questionnaires
Urinary Retention
Urination
Vomiting