Urethral catheterization is a common procedure performed commonly before some elective surgeries, often without consideration of the pain and negative perception among women. Owing to patient complaints and the fact that catheterization is not always necessary; a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from January to March 2012 at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences hospital. One hundred healthy women who were catheterized before undergoing cesarean delivery were interviewed to assess the perception of pain and distress, determining the association between these two factors. This issue has rarely been investigated in previous studies. This study also aimed to evaluate the efficiencies of the Wong-Baker and 0–10 numerical rating scales. The authors results indicate that although the patients did not initially have a good understanding of the pain scales, when they were given additional explanation, a positive correlation between the two scales (p<0.01) was found. Their study further demonstrates that catheterization is a moderately painful (4.68 of 10) procedure, causing distress (4.67 of 10) and discomfort.