Birthing ball versus pethidine and haloperidol in satisfaction with childbirth

To determine the effects on maternal satisfaction of the use of the birthing ball as a method of pain relief compared to the subcutaneous administration of pethidine (50mg) and haloperidol (2.5mg), during the latent phase of labour.

Randomised, unicentric, parallel and controlled clinical trial.

Low-risk pregnant women hospitalised in a pathological pregnancy ward at the Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital (Madrid) due to prolonged pregnancy, premature rupture of membranes, or labour prodromes.

once the patient's labour had become painful, a series of pre-established movements were implemented with a birthing ball in the intervention group, or pethidine and haloperidol were administered at the same dose subcutaneously. After the intervention and on the post-natal ward, satisfaction was measured with the Mackey Satisfaction Childbirth scale, validated in Spanish in 2016, in the first 48-72hours after delivery.

group comparisons: Student's t for continuous variables and Chi-squared for categorical variables. Significance at p<0.05.

The maternal satisfaction was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the comparison group, in all the domains of the scale: obstetrician (4.24/3.87), dilatation (4.02/3.35), second stage (4.27/3.67), newborn (4.72/4.43), accompaniment and comfort (4.78/4.44). There were, however, no statistically significant differences in the midwife subscale, although the scores were equally high (4.65/4.45).

Using birthing balls during the latent phase of labour increases women's satisfaction with their labour process more than administering pethidine and haloperidol during this period.