A Study of the Effect of Antenatal Physiotherapy Coaching on Labour Pain in the Nullipara

An observational study was performed on nulliparous labour pain in an area with a low epidural rate which facilitated the comprehensive assessment of pain. Patients who had attended antenatal physiotherapy classes showed consistently less reaction to pain while experiencing the same level of perceived pain as the untrained. Duration of the first stage was the main factor associated with high pain levels. There was some evidence that training was particularly effective when there were fetal positional problems