Showering in Labor: An Effective Pain Management Alternative

Abstract

Health care professionals continue to be concerned about the relief of pain and anxiety associated with childbirth. There are recent anecdotal reports in the literature which describe showering as an effective nonpharmaceutical alternative for labor pain management. The effectiveness of showering can most likely be explained physiologically by the "gate control" theory of pain. The importance of providing laboring women with nursing interventions that effectively reduce pain and anxiety is supported by Roy's Adaptation Model. The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to examine the labor patient's perception of the effectiveness of showering as a comfort measure and the relationship between showering in labor and outcome variables such as analgesia use, anesthesia use, and childbirth satisfaction. After approval by appropriate human subjects review committees, data was collected by written questionnaires and review of the patient's medical record. Qualified primiparous patients (n=46) became part of a "shower" or "no shower" group depending upon their utilization of the shower during labor. The mean age of subjects was 24.9 years with the majority being married, Caucasian, and well educated.. Findings from this study suggest that women are satisfied with showering in labor as a comfort measure and perceive it to be effective in reducing pain and anxiety. It is particularly useful for patients in the latent phase of labor and for those patients experiencing back pain. Showering is easily implemented and not dependent upon advanced childbirth preparation. The study did not demonstrate a significant relationship between showering and analgesia use, anesthesia use, or childbirth satisfaction as measured by Humenick's Labor/Delivery Evaluation scale.