Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives
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Review
A critical and interpretive literature review of birthing women's non-elicited pain language.
Standardised pain assessment i.e. the McGill Pain Questionnaire provide an elicited pain language. Midwives observe spontaneous non-elicited pain language to guide their assessment of how a woman is coping with labour. This paper examined the labour pain experience using the questions: What type of pain language do women use? Do any of the words match the descriptors of standardised pain assessments? What type of information doverbal and non-verbal cues provide to the midwife? ⋯ Labour can bring about a spectrum of sensations and therefore emotions from happiness and pleasure to suffering and grief. Spontaneous pain language comprises verbal language and non-verbal behaviour. Narratives are an effective form of pain communication in that they provide details regarding the quality, nature and dimensions of pain, and details notcaptured in quantitative data.
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There is worldwide concern with increasing rates of pharmacologically induced labour and operative birth. Many women would like to avoid medical or surgical interventions in childbirth; a desire that may contribute towards the popularity of complementary and alternative medicine/therapies. ⋯ Further research is required on whether acupressure can shorten labour duration, augment prolonged labour or initiate onset of labour by stimulating uterine contractions. Clinical trials should report the basis for acupressure treatment described in the STRICTA (minus needling) and CONSORT non-pharmaceutical guidelines.
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There is worldwide concern with increasing rates of pharmacologically induced labour and operative birth. Many women would like to avoid medical or surgical interventions in childbirth; a desire that may contribute towards the popularity of complementary and alternative medicine/therapies. ⋯ Further research is required on whether acupressure can shorten labour duration, augment prolonged labour or initiate onset of labour by stimulating uterine contractions. Clinical trials should report the basis for acupressure treatment described in the STRICTA (minus needling) and CONSORT non-pharmaceutical guidelines.
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To determine and critically examine maternity attitudes surrounding labour pain and how midwives can best facilitate women navigating intrapartum discomfort without relying on 'pain-relief' strategies or immediate recourse for analgesic assistance. ⋯ Continuing to practice with a pharmacological outlook, aiming to rid the labouring body of discomfort, is reductionist for both midwives and women. Midwives must seek to employ a new lexicon with which to communicate and facilitate women within the dynamic and continually changing territory of labour. If this conceptual shift is realised, the subsequent positive sequalae of women rediscovering their innate birthing capabilities could create a situation where birth can be considered as an aesthetic peak experience, improving satisfaction on both sides of the midwife-mother diad.
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Review Biography Historical Article
The effect of Soranus of Ephesus (98-138) on the work of midwives.
In the Roman period, midwives continued to play an important role in female health care primarily in the attendance of women birth. In the second century AD, midwives' education received a significant boost thanks to the distinguished physician Soranus of Ephesus. ⋯ Soranus' work contributed in the education of midwives and influenced the practice of obstetrics till the Middle Ages.