A prospective survey of 1091 Finnish parturients was conducted in order to ascertain mothers' expectations for labour pain relief, to measure the actual pain during all three stages of labour and to question their satisfaction and the adequacy of pain relief on the third day following delivery. Antenatal expectations for pain relief were surveyed. Mothers were questioned on pain levels in the delivery room and 3 days after giving birth. Pain levels were ascertained using a visual pain score method. Antenatally, 90% of all parturients anticipated a need for pain relief during labour. In the delivery room over 80% of all parturients described their pain as very severe to intolerable, only 4% of the multiparous had low pain scores (0-2). After pain treatment 50% of multiparous women still had pain scores from 8 to 10, which reflects a lack of effective pain relief. Dissatisfaction with the childbirth experience was very low, and was associated with instrumental deliveries, but not with the usage of analgesia. 51% of all parturients complained of inadequate pain relief during childbirth, which, in multiparous women, was significantly associated with the second stage of labour.

Objectives: We investigated the long-term psychologic symptoms of patients who survived pediatric intensive care admission. Design: Longitudinal follow-up study. Setting: Nationwide cohort study based on a national ICU register and a questionnaire survey. Patients: All pediatric patients (0–16 yr old) who were admitted to an ICU in Finland in 2009–2010. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Six years after ICU admission, all surviving patients were sent the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and questionnaires regarding chronic diseases and need for medication and therapy. At the end of the follow-up period, there were 3,674 surviving children who had been admitted to an ICU in 2009–2010. Of these children, 1,105 completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire 6 years after admission. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores were abnormal for 84 children (7.6%), borderline for 80 (7.2%), and normal for 941 (85.2%). Participants with abnormal scores were younger at admission to the ICU (3.06 vs 4.70 yr; p = 0.02), and more commonly had a chronic disease (79.5% vs 47.4%; p < 0.001), a need for continuous medication (49.4% vs 31.7%; p < 0.001), a need for therapy (58.5% vs 15.9%; p < 0.001), and a need for annual healthcare visits (91.4% vs 85.2%; p = 0.05). Abnormal Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores were associated with higher rates of neurologic (32.1% vs 10.2%), gastrointestinal (7.1% vs 3.9%), psychiatric (3.6% vs 0.5%), and chromosomal disorders (9.5% vs 1.3%), as well as with long-term pain (1.2% vs 0.6%). Conclusions: Participants with abnormal Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores (poor psychologic outcome) at 6 years after childhood ICU admission more commonly suffered neurologic, chromosomal, or psychiatric diagnoses or long-term pain, and generally required higher levels of healthcare services, therapies, and medication.

No abstract

Consecutive obese (n = 53) and non-obese parturients (n = 609) were prospectively evaluated during labour to analyse the influence of maternal obesity on labour pain and outcome. Excessive pre-pregnancy weight was classified as a body mass index of 30 kg.m-2 or more. Pain intensity was measured using an 11 point visual scoring scale. Obese parturients had more complicated pregnancies (hypertension and diabetes) and their babies weighed significantly more (3865 g versus 3592 g, p < 0.001). These differences did not affect labour pain experience, or the duration or mode of delivery. Eighty-five percent of the obese parturients and 83% of the controls had high maximal pain scores during the first stage (> 7). Both groups received similar analgesia. More technical problems (p = 0.03) were experienced in establishing epidural analgesia for obese parturients, but this did not influence the success of pain treatment. After delivery, obese women were significantly more content with the pain relief received; only 12% vs 23% in the control group complained of poor pain control (p = 0.03). In this study, obesity and increased fetal size did not complicate labour or its outcome. Critical patient assessment should be emphasised, however, due to the physiological and medical problems present in obese parturients.

PCB in selected parturients with a low-dose superficial technique has been shown to be an effective analgesic modality with minimal fetal and neonatal side-effects, but post-blockade fetal bradycardia cannot be wholly eliminated.