Experience of expecting mothers with spinal analgesia

Obstetric analgesia has lately become a modern supplement during physiological birth as well as during births with increased risk. Spinal analgesia together with epidural analgesia represent important methods in obstetric analgesia and anesthesia during delivery. The objective and the core of my thesis is to make a survey of expecting mothers´ experience with spinal analgesia which is a less used method of obstetric analgesia than for example the epidural method. But because this method is entirely equivalent to the epidural method, it is advisable to get familiar with its adverse and positive aspects and especially with the expecting mothers´ response to this method. In the thesis I used combination of quantitative and qualitative research, with six objectives, six hypotheses and two research questions. Methods of collecting data were questionnaires and interviews. The research database consisted of women after vaginal as well as operative deliveries who had used spinal analgesia or anesthesia during delivery. Objective 1 {--} to find out the overall awareness of women about methods of obstetric analgesia was fulfilled and hypothesis 1 {--} women do not have enough information about methods of obstetric analgesia was confirmed. Objective 2 {--} to find out whether the spinal analgesia method brings expected comfort of painless birth to expecting mothers was fulfilled. Hypothesis 2 {--} spinal analgesia method brings expected comfort of painless birth to expecting mothers was confirmed as well. Objective 3 {--} to find out whether spinal analgesia has a positive effect on the course of delivery was fulfilled. Hypothesis 3 which stated that spinal analgesia method has a positive effect on course of delivery was confirmed as well. Objective 4 to find out how the spinal analgesia method influences condition of fetus during delivery was fulfilled. Hypothesis 4 {--} spinal analgesia method has a positive influence on condition of faetus during delivery was confirmed. Objective 5 was to find out side effects of spinal analgesia during delivery as well as in confinement. The objective was fulfilled and the hypothesis was confirmed as well. Objective 6 to compare postoperative condition of mothers after Caesarean section in spinal analgesia and total anesthesia was fulfilled. The hypothesis stated to objective 6 was also confirmed . Two hypotheses can be stated from the results of qualitative research which comprised two research questions. The first hypothesis claims that spinal analgesia has a positive effect on physical condition of expecting mothers during delivery. The second hypothesis claims that spinal analgesia has a positive effect on mental condition of expecting mothers. The findings from the field of obstetric analgesia and research results can be used in the nursing process not only in delivery rooms and obstetric wards but also in primary care where the pregnant woman gets into the very first contact with medical staff