Knowledge and awareness of labor analgesia services available in our tertiary hospital among the pregnant women: A prospective study

Background: Knowledge regarding labor analgesia is poor among the pregnant women. This hinders them from utilizing the services in centers where it is available. In this study, we tried to analyze the awareness and knowledge of the antenatal women and their beliefs regarding labor analgesia. Patients and Methods: This prospective, observational study done in antenatal clinic for 1 month. Antenatal women who attended the clinic voluntarily filled the semi-structured questionnaire after the written and informed consent. Results: A total of 170 women filled the questionnaire out of 1099 antenatal visits. 68.8% were multipara and 50.58% had previous vaginal delivery. 63.3% study population had prior information of labor analgesia; while only 42.6% had information that labor analgesia services are available in our hospital (P = 0.002). Age, education, and parity were considered as predictors; however, parity is the only predictor for knowledge of labor analgesia odds ratio = 2.368 (95% CI–1.24, 4.51; P = 0.009). Majority (60.23%) of the study sample believe that there is no effective method of pain relief during labor. Binary logistic regression and Chi-square test used for the statistical analysis. Conclusion: Antenatal women still believe that there is no effective method of labor analgesia. Women prefer obstetrician advice for getting information regarding labor analgesia. In our study, the level of education has no impact on awareness of labor analgesia. Only parity is a predictive factor for knowledge of labor analgesia