Abstract:
ntroduction: Labor pain is the worst imaginable pain that women experience during their
childbearing years. Untreated labor pain has
numerous negative consequences, for both the
mother and her fetus. Low levels of awareness
and attitudes among pregnant women about
labor analgesia is a major challenge that affects
outcomes for both the mother and fetus.
Therefore, this study aimed to assess the
awareness of, attitude towards and desire for
labor analgesia and its associated factors among
pregnant women who visited an antenatal care
facility.
Methods: An institution-based, cross-sectional
study was conducted from February to March
2019. Data were collected using semi-structured
questionnaires by a convenience sampling
technique. Data were entered using EpiData 4.2
and exported to SPSS version 20 software for
analysis. Both bivariate and multivariate binary
logistic regression analysis were used to identify
factors associated with awareness, attitude and
desire for labor analgesia among pregnant
women. Crude odds ratio (COR) and adjusted
odds ratio (AOR) were calculated to show the
strength of association.
Results: A total of 410 participants were included. Thirty-three (8%) of the pregnant
women who visited the antenatal care facility
were found to have an awareness of labor
analgesia. In multivariate analysis, the likelihood of having awareness of labor analgesia was
7.227 times (AOR: 7.227, 95%, CI 2.406–21.720)
greater among parous versus nulliparous
mothers. The odds of having awareness of
labor analgesia were 3.133 times (AOR: 3.133,
95%; CI 1.144–8.581) greater among government employees than among housewives. The
odds of having a good attitude towards labor
analgesia were 6.488 times (AOR: 6.488, 95% CI
1.894–22.227) higher in government employees
than in farmers. Women in the age group of
25–31 years were 1.815 times more likely to
want labor analgesia for their next delivery
(AOR: 1.815, 95% CI 1.103–2.989).
Conclusions: The awareness of labor analgesia
among pregnant women was low. There is a
need for teamwork by all stakeholders in health
sectors to improve attitudes and increase the
desire for labor analgesia among pregnant
women who visit antenatal care facilities.
Electronic supplementary material The online
version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40122-
020-00212-1) contains supplementary material, which is
available to authorized users.
M. M. Workie W. B. Chekol (&) D. Y. Fentie
S. A. Ahmed Y. B. Bizuneh
Department of Anesthesia, College of Medicine and
Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar,
Ethiopia
e-mail: birliewubie@gmail.com
