Non-pharmacological pain management strategies for labour: Maintaining a physiological outlook

Abstract

Negotiating the pain and discomfort of labour can be challenging for women, their partners and the midwives attending their births. In current midwifery practice, there are a number of women who express a desire to experience the whole range of sensations accompanying physiological birth without the use of pharmacological agents while retaining a sense of control and dignity. Guidance is available around non-pharmalogical strategies for pain management in labour. Midwives can use the philosophy of normality to thoughtfully support and guide women and their partners, helping them to choose strategies that work with the underlying physiology of pain while enabling women to feel empowered in their birth experience.