Question

You're caring for a mother in the transition stage of labor when she begins crying and says, “It hurts so much. I don’t know if I can take this anymore.” As you were admitting her, when contractions were less frequent and intense, the client told you it was very important to her that she deliver the baby without taking any pain medication and that she would feel like a failure if she gave in and took a narcotic.

Will you offer her a narcotic analgesic to reduce her discomfort? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Childbirth marks the ending of a pregnancy resulting in birth of one or more babies from the uterus through Caesarean section or natural delivery. It is also called labor and delivery. Labour has four phases including first phase that marks the contraction and dilation of the cervix, a second stage that involves giving birth, the third stage that involves expelling of the placenta and the final stage marks the recovery.

The transition of labour marks the final phase of the first stage of labour. After this, the active and early labour begins. It is the beginning of the coming out of the baby. The pressure starts to build as the baby head starts coming out. It also marks the change in emotions such as crying or confused or scared as in the given case.

As the woman is not willing to take medication there are several non-medical pain relief techniques such as massage, rocking (sitting on rocking chair), walking, changing positions every hour during labour, hydrotherapy that calms and eases pain by lying in a whirlpool tub or jet spray shower on the back, heat application, music, and focused breathing that involves the peculiar manner of breathing that relaxes the body and aids in breathing during contractions.