The relationship between attitude toward labor pain and length of the first, second, and third stages in primigravida women

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Factors affecting labor pain include physiological, psychological, and social factors, among which psychological factors refer to attitudes and beliefs about labor pain. Hence, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between attitude toward labor pain and length of the first, second, and third stages in primigravida women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 230 pregnant women who were referred to hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in a two-stage sampling in 2018. In the beginning, the participants completed the questionnaire of demographic/fertility characteristics and attitude to labor pain (25Q), and at the next stage, the researcher completed the form of labor information including length of the labor stages. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 and Pearson correlation coefficient, Student's t-test, one-way ANOVA, and general linear regression. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation) of the attitude to labor pain was 53.96 (1.9), and the length of the first stage was 10.01 (0.3) (h), the second stage was 1.6 (0.4) (h), and the third stage was 15.9 (1.7) (min). One hundred and eighty-three (79.6) had negative attitude and 47 (20.4) had positive attitude toward labor pain. There was a significant positive correlation between attitude toward labor pain and length of the first (P = 0.001, r = 0.37) and second stages of labor (P = 0.001, r = 0.24). There was no significant between length of third stage of labor and attitude toward labor pain (P = 714). CONCLUSION: The results showed that the majority of primiparous women had a higher (negative) attitude toward labor pain, which was associated with longe the first and second stages of labor.