Abstract

Manal Kassaba, Ala'' A Alhowary, Shereen Hamadneh, Ahmad Smadi, Hadeel Malaabeh, Anit N Roy

This study explores pregnant women’s beliefs about epidural analgesia and the influence of pain catastrophizing on epidural analgesia use among Jordanian pregnant women. A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. A non-probability convenient sample of 191 pregnant women was recruited in the antenatal clinics of two university hospitals in Jordan to participate in the study. Both catastrophizing pain scale (PCS) and Beliefs Epidural Analgesia Questionnaire (BEAQ) were used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22. Chi-square was applied to examine the association between some variables with demographical data. Independent sample t-test and one-way AVONA test were also used to determine the differences in EA beliefs and pain catastrophizing. Pearson correlation test was used to examine the correlation between pain catastrophizing and the beliefs about EA. The study findings show that there is a statistically significant association between intention to choose EA during pregnancy and the actual use of EA during childbirth. There is also a significant difference between the EA beliefs and the intention to choose and use of EA among pregnant women. Pain catastrophizing is not affecting pregnant women’s believes in choosing the epidural analgesia during childbirth. There was no correlation between pain catastrophizing and beliefs about epidural on EA used. Pain catastrophizing was not found to be a significant factor concerning the decisions made to choose EA and the actual application of EA made by pregnant women about the birth experience. There are many factors found to affect pregnant women’s decision about the birth experience and its associated pain. Among these factors are demographic characteristics, family support provided during labour, pregnant women believe of what ideal birth should look like, women’s preference about the method to control delivery and finally women’s perception of the potential risks during pregnancy.