DEVELOPMENT OF A LABOUR PAIN ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

Abstract

Labour may impose severe pain, yet women experience the intensity of pain differently. The severity of labour pain is frequently underestimated by women and care providers and biases in labour pain estimation are often displayed by maternal care providers. Pain assessment is considered the key to labour pain management and a standardised pain assessment instrument can assist with adequate measurement and management of labour pain. The study conducted a search for pain assessment instruments that could be used to assess and measure pain during the first stage of labour. Although a variety of pain assessment/measurement tools are available, many problems were experienced in applying existing pain assessment methods to a woman in labour. A new labour pain assessment instrument was developed that includes the pain scores of maternal care providers and the woman in labour. This mixed method study described the refinement process of a labour pain assessment instrument that was developed from the literature. The focus group members and Delphi experts expressed their enthusiasm and appraisement for a new labour pain assessment instrument. A sense of closure (saturation) was attained and the experts concluded that the instrument was ready to be tested.