'Soothing the ring of fire': Australian women's and midwives' experiences of using perineal warm packs in the second stage of labour.

Objective: to determine women's and midwives' experiences of using perineal warm packs in the second stage of labour.

Design: as part of a randomised controlled trial (Warm Pack Trial), women and midwives were asked to complete questionnaires about the effects of the warm packs on pain, perineal trauma, comfort, feelings of control, satisfaction and intentions for use during future births.

Setting: two hospitals in Sydney, Australia.