[Pain assessment during birth : Which assessment tools comprehensibly depict the labor pains during physiological...

Labor pain is a complex phenomenon, which is influenced by many factors. Therefore, an effective pain management during birth requires an assessment of the labor pains; however, there is currently no standardized and valid tool to assess labor pains.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate which assessment instruments are available for labor pains during a physiological birth and how comprehensibly they depict the pain.

The study is an integrative review of the literature based on a literature search conducted in the electronic databases PubMed and CINAHL. To ensure the quality of the review article, COSMIN, AMSTAR 2 and the instrument for assessment of qualitative research of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) were used as assessment instruments.

Taking the various inclusion and exclusion criteria into consideration, five studies could be included. The following assessment instruments were identified: visual analog scale (VAS), the acceptance symptom assessment scale (ASAS), the angle labor pain questionnaire (A-LPQ), the rating scale of pain expression during childbirth (Escala de Valoración de la Expresión del Dolor durante el Trabajo de Parto, ESVADPA) and the coping with labor pain algorithm (CWLA). These were supplemented by a study on the perspectives of women.

None of the assessment instruments found could assess the birth pain in its full complexity. Therefore, midwives have to rely on their competence to evaluate labor pain on an individual basis. Further research is necessary to identify the relevant influencing factors of labor pains and to be able to develop suitable instruments.