Knowledge And Attitude Of Pregnant Women To Epidural Analgesia In Labour

Abstract

Epidural analgesia for the relief of labour pains is very effective. In spite of this, it is not commonly used in our institution. This study set out to evaluate how it is perceived by our pregnant population. Out of 1220 pregnant women that participated in the study, 68% supported the relief of labour pains, while 32% did not. Three hundred respondents (24.6%) knew of epidural analgesia in labour, but only 150 (12.3%) would prefer it for labour pain relief. Parenteral pethidine was the most preferred method of labour pain relief. Increased antenatal education about epidural analgesia and its ready availability, will increase its awareness and acceptability among our parturients.

Keywords: knowledge, attitude of pregnant women to epidural analgesia.