Table 1.
Method of analgesia by demographic and obstetric factors
|
Non-pharmacological n (%) |
Gas n (%) |
Pethidine n (%) |
Epidural n (%) |
General anaesthetic n (%) |
p-value from χ2 test | |
| n = 312 | n = 190 | n = 292 | n = 416 | n = 50 | ||
| Maternal age | 0.002 | |||||
| 16–19 | 5 (2) | 4 (2) | 9 (3) | 8 (2) | 2 (4) | |
| 20–24 | 28 (9) | 17 (9) | 54 (18) | 45 (11) | 3 (6) | |
| 25–29 | 99 (32) | 63 (33) | 99 (34) | 153 (37) | 11 (22) | |
| 30+ | 179 (58) | 106 (56) | 130 (45) | 210 (50) | 34 (68) | |
| Maternal education | 0.32 | |||||
| Up to year 11 | 61 (20) | 43 (23) | 63 (22) | 74 (18) | 10 (20) | |
| Year 12 | 70 (23) | 43 (23) | 80 (27) | 98 (24) | 5 (10) | |
| Trade/certificate/diploma | 61 (20) | 31 (16) | 57 (20) | 87 (21) | 11 (22) | |
| Degree | 118 (38) | 73 (38) | 92 (32) | 155 (37) | 24 (48) | |
| Type of birth | <0.0001 | |||||
| Vaginal | 306 (98) | 183 (96) | 262 (90) | 116 (28) | 0 | |
| Instrumental | 6 (2) | 7 (4) | 30 (10) | 128 (31) | 0 | |
| CS with labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 (15) | 19 (38) | |
| CS no labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 (26) | 31 (62) | |
| Onset of labour | <0.0001 | |||||
| Spontaneous | 258 (83) | 148 (78) | 201 (69) | 162 (39) | 11 (22) | |
| Induced | 53 (17) | 41 (22) | 89 (31) | 144 (35) | 8 (16) | |
| No labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 (26) | 31 (62) | |
| Parity | <0.0001 | |||||
| No previous births | 84 (27) | 62 (33) | 157 (54) | 225 (54) | 19 (38) | |
| ≥1 previous births | 227 (73) | 128 (67) | 134 (46) | 191 (46) | 31 (62) | |
| Length of labour1 | <0.0001 | |||||
| <2 hours | 52 (17) | 24 (13) | 12 (4) | 6 (2) | 1 (5) | |
| 2–12 hours | 224 (72) | 144 (76) | 200 (68) | 142 (47) | 11 (58) | |
| 12–24 hours | 32 (10) | 16 (8) | 67 (23) | 105 (34) | 4 (21) | |
| >24 hours | 3 (1) | 5 (3) | 13 (5) | 51 (17) | 3 (16) |
1among women who laboured