Trend in pain among postnatal mothers at a tertiary care hospital in South India

Introduction: The mothers experience various physical discomforts after child birth out of which pain is a major factor that contributes to maternal morbidity. For broadening the scope of care directed towards postpartum well-being, the present study aimed to assess the features of pain on the first three postpartum days among mothers after vaginal delivery and caesarean section. Materials and Methods: With a prospective survey design using quota sampling technique, 100 postnatal mothers were selected consecutively (50 mothers who had vaginal delivery and 50 mothers who had caesarean section) and the data was collected using Postnatal Pain Questionnaire and a Checklist for the assessment of sites of pain. Results: Abdominal incisional pain (100%,100%,86%), perineal pain(100%,100%,88%), abdominal after pain(42%,41%,18%) and back pain (38%,34%,19%)were the more frequently experienced forms of pain in the first three days respectively. The mean scores of perineal pain and abdominal incisional pain on the first three postpartum days were 7.5, 5.5 3.3 and 8.5, 6.4 and 4.2 respectively. Breast pain was present among more than 20% mothers on the third postpartum day. Back pain was found to be higher among mothers after caesarean section and after pain was more experienced by mothers after vaginal delivery. There was significant association found between back pain with age and parity. Conclusion: Pain following childbirth was a significant problem among mothers in the immediate postpartum period. Therefore, pain management strategies employed in maternity care units need to be strengthened.