Expectations and knowledge of intrapartum epidural analgesia. what women want

Aim: to investigate the expectations and knowledge of intrapartum epidural analgesia from woman’s point of view. Methods: a multidimensional investigation was carried out on a sample of 360 healthy women in a large Italian obstetric facility. Results. Intrapartum epidural analgesia was more common in patients with higher education level and higher socio-economic income as well as in women who are employed. Most epidural analgesia were requested by patients who judge themselves as anxious and who have fear of pain in labour. Many women demanding epidural analgesia seem to fear a loss of control during labour. Additionally, some of those not wanting epidural analgesia feel that it can negatively affect their ability to collaborate. In spite of adequate pain control, a proportion of women with epidural analgesia was poorly satisfied by the procedure. Overall, patients were poorly informed about intrapartum epidural analgesia. Conclusion: the main expectation of patients from epidural analgesia is the ability to maintain self-control during labour and delivery rather than pain relief. As the goal of intrapartum analgesia is pain relief, patients should be better counseled about intrapartum epidural analgesia in order to avoid a situation where an unnecessary analgesia betrays their expectations.