Pain relief for childbirth: the preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians.

Objective: To compare the personal preferences of pregnant women, midwives and obstetricians regarding a range of physical, psychosocial and pharmacological methods of pain relief for childbirth.

Method: Self-completed questionnaires were posted to a consecutive sample of 400 pregnant women booked-in to a large tertiary referral centre for maternity care in South Australia. A similar questionnaire was distributed to a national sample of 500 obstetricians as well as 425 midwives at: (1) the same hospital as the pregnant women, (2) an outer-metropolitan teaching hospital and (3) a district hospital.