Knowledge, Awareness and Acceptance of Labor Analgesia among Antenatal Women in a Remote Island: A Questionnaire Based Study

Background: It has been a decade since the year 2007 was dedicated towards painless motherhood. However the use and acceptance of labor analgesia is still very rare in developing countries.

Objective: The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge, acceptance and reasons for rejection of labor analgesia among the expectant mothers.

Methods: The present observational study was conducted after approval from the institute. All antenatal women who attended antenatal clinic were approached during January to March 2017. Data was collected from the consented women using a pretested questionnaire. Data were expressed in absolute numbers and percentage scale. Measures of central tendencies were calculated for quantitative data using INSTAT software and p < 0.05 was considered significant for comparison.

Results: Response from 280 women with mean ± SD age and gestational age of 25.49 ± 4.89 years and 28.25 ± 8.75 weeks respectively were analyzed. 126 were primi or multiparous; 56 graded labor pain as unbearable yet only 30 (23.81%) wanted labor analgesia. Only 20 (7.14%) prospective mothers were having knowledge of labor analgesia. The nulliparous wanted significantly less labor analgesia compared to primi and multiparous (p 0.003). Desire to bear natural birth was the commonest reason to refuse painless labor. One quarter of the participants believed that labor analgesia was bad for child and against the will of God.

Conclusion: Knowledge and acceptance of labor analgesia is poor although women who had previous experience were significantly more inclined towards it. Misinformation and myths is also a major contributor for non acceptance of labor analgesia.