• Amie Steel, Jon Adams, David Sibbritt, Alex Broom, Cindy Gallois, and Jane Frawley.
• Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, UTS, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
• Health Expect. 2015 Oct 1; 18 (5): 1633-44.

BackgroundDespite high rates of women's use of intrapartum pain management techniques, little is known about the factors that influence such use.ObjectiveExamine the determinants associated with women's use of labour pain management.DesignCross-sectional survey of a substudy of women from the 'young' cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health (ALSWH).Setting And ParticipantsWomen aged 31-35 years who identified as being pregnant or recently given birth in the 2009 ALSWH survey (n = 2445) were recruited for the substudy. The substudy survey was completed by 1835 women (RR = 79.2%).Main Variables StudiedDeterminants examined included pregnancy health and maternity care [including complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)] for their most recent pregnancy and any previous pregnancies. Participants' attitudes and beliefs related to both CAM and maternity care were also included in the analysis.Main Outcome MeasuresThe outcome measures examined were the use of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management techniques (NPMT).ResultsDifferences were seen in the effects of demographics, health service utilization, health status, use of CAM, and attitudes and beliefs upon use of intrapartum pain management techniques across all categories. The only variable that was identified as a determinant for use of all types of pain management techniques was a previous caesarean section (CS).Discussion And ConclusionsThe effect of key determinants on women's use of pain management techniques differs significantly, and, other than CS, no one determinant is clearly influential in the use of all pain management options.© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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