• Maher Ali, SultanSyed FarjadSFDr. Syed Farjad Sultan, PhD. Consultant Anaesthetist Department of Anaesthesia, Surgical Intensive Care and Pain Management. Ruth KM Pfau, Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi - Pakistan., Anil Kumar, and Nida Ghouri.
• Dr. Maher Ali, MBBS. Specialist Anaesthesiologist, Department of Anaesthesia, Civil Hospital Badin, Indus Health Network, Badin, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2020 Jan 1; 36 (1): S4-S8.

Background And ObjectiveChildbirth ranks amongst the most painful experiences a woman has to endure. In developing countries issues related to awareness, acceptability and availability of analgesia exist. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices for labor analgesia amongst healthcare workers and patients.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study conducted at Shaikh Saeed Memorial Campus of The Indus Hospital (TIH), Karachi. The study was performed in November 2016. Two surveys were conducted for this study; one for healthcare workers with patient interaction and second on patients attending their first antenatal clinic. The participants were asked to complete a survey following consent.ResultsA total of 71 healthcare workers and 1005 patients participated in the study. Among healthcare workers, 43.7% felt that pain relief should be administered, 14.1% believed analgesia had adverse effects on fetus and 11.3% reported increased risk of cesarean section. Results from patients showed 27.9% were aware of labor analgesia and when informed, 85.2% were willing to have labor analgesia. In 14.1% of patients, labor analgesia was unsupported as they stated being a mother meant to endure pain.ConclusionThere is a wide gap between knowledge and practice of labor analgesia. Healthcare workers have a role in educating women, to be advocates for labor analgesia and to educate patients timely for this service.Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

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