Pain and pain relief in labour

In a survey of 50 women delivered consecutively in a modern maternity hospital, 45 suffered severe and/or very severe pain. This followed an average of just over five hours of mild or moderate pain, and lasted for an average of 3 1/4 hours, in spite of pain relief. Intramuscular pethidine, which tended to be given late in labour, was notably ineffective in relieving pain. Epidural analgesia was highly effective, but was used in only 10 patients, and after an average of 5 1/2 hours of severe or very severe pain. A majority of primiparas found the pain more severe or much more severe than they had been led to expect, and only 34% of the sample were "quite happy" about their next labour, with regard to pain. It is suggested that there is room for improvement.