Pregnant women's knowledge of non-pharmacological techniques for pain relief during childbirth

INTRODUCTION The objective of the study was to assess knowledge of pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy on non-pharmacological techniques for pain relief during labor and childbirth. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care facility of the University of Campinas, Brazil. The participants were 171 pregnant women, aged 18-35 years with 36 or more weeks of a singleton pregnancy. Participants responded to a questionnaire with data about sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics, knowledge on nonpharmacological techniques for pain relief during childbirth, the source of the information on these techniques, practice of physical activity and occurrence of pain during pregnancy. Parous women responded on the use of non-pharmacological techniques for pain relief during childbirth in previous deliveries. Multiple regression analysis with stepwise criteria of selection of variables was used to identify variables significantly associated with knowledge of non-pharmacological techniques for pain relief during childbirth. RESULTS A total of 165 (96.5%) participants reported knowledge on at least one nonpharmacological technique; 87.1% on the use of a warm shower during labor for pain relief, 80.7% on the use of the birthing ball, and 74.8% on breathing techniques. There were no significant differences between nulliparous and parous women. The main source of information reported was the Internet. Multivariate analysis showed that pregnant women who had pain during pregnancy reported more knowledge on the use of warm showers during labor (OR=2.64; 95% CI: 1.03-6.73). CONCLUSIONS Most women had knowledge of at least one non-pharmacological technique for pain relief during childbirth.