Where can I find out what % of women get labor pain medication?

mitchsmom · Nov 11, 2004

Have you tried the journals like AWHONN(association of women's health, obstetric and neonatal nurses; ACOG(american college of ob/gyn's); ACNM (american college of nurse midwives), etc.?? Or contacting the associations themselves?

If you google it you come up with a bunch of stuff, they are mostly casual articles but some of them may list their references and give you a jumping off point.

This one, for example, lists "Source: The Maternity Center Association's Listening to Mothers survey" (a national survey):

http://www.parentsplace.com/pregnancy/trimester2/articles/0,,239024_548375-2,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=2

Have you searched phrases like "percent women using drugs in labor" in your school's online database of full text journal articles? Using Cinahl, Ovid, ProQuest, etc.?

reprise · Nov 11, 2004

The overall statistics can be found on google and are quite frightening. HOWEVER, when you disaggregate the figures and take into account hospital policies, the numbers show a different story.

What do you regard as "pain medication". A single shot of narcotics? Are you counting an epidural given for a scheduled caesarian or an emergency c-section as "pain medication"? What about locals given for episiotomies or for stitching tears?

The effects of various medications on breast-feeding have been endlessly researched and while some of the results are still disputed, there's a huge body of evidence out there related to the half-life and direct impact of drugs given to labouring women and neo-natal outcomes. What's even more interesting from a pure research point of view - and the terms in which you phrased your question lead me to believe that you weren't asking about these - is the impact on breast-feeding (via their impact on the mother) of drugs and procedures which do not have a direct in utero effect.