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The meaning of labour pain: how the social environment and other contextual factors shape women’s experiences

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, May 2017
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (93rd percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (94th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
1 news outlet
twitter
37 X users
facebook
21 Facebook pages
video
1 YouTube creator

Citations

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59 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
309 Mendeley
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Title
The meaning of labour pain: how the social environment and other contextual factors shape women’s experiences
Published in
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, May 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12884-017-1343-3
Pubmed ID
Authors

Laura Y. Whitburn, Lester E. Jones, Mary-Ann Davey, Rhonda Small

Abstract

The majority of women experience pain during labour and childbirth, however not all women experience it in the same way. In order to develop a more complete understanding of labour pain, this study aimed to examine women's experiences within the perspective of modern pain science. A more complete understanding of this phenomenon can then guide the development of interventions to enhance women's experiences and potentially reduce their need for pharmacological intervention. A qualitative study was conducted using phenomenology as the theoretical framework. Data were collected from 21 nulliparous women, birthing at one of two large maternity services, through face-to-face interviews and written questionnaires. Data were analysed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach. The data from this study suggest that a determining factor of a woman's experience of pain during labour is the meaning she ascribes to it. When women interpret the pain as productive and purposeful, it is associated with positive cognitions and emotions, and they are more likely to feel they can cope. Alternatively, when women interpret the pain as threatening, it is associated with negative cognitions and emotions and they tend to feel they need help from external methods of pain control. The social environment seems particularly important in shaping a woman's pain experience by influencing her interpretation of the context of the pain, and in doing so can change its meaning. The context and social environment are dynamic and can also change throughout labour. A determining factor in a woman's experience of pain during labour is its perceived meaning which can then influence how the woman responds to the pain. The meaning of the pain is shaped by the social environment and other contextual factors within which it is experienced. Focussed promotion of labour pain as a productive and purposeful pain and efforts to empower women to utilise their inner capacity to cope, as well as careful attention to women's cognitions and the social environment around them may improve women's experiences of labour pain and decrease their need for pain interventions.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 37 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 309 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 309 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 51 17%
Student > Master 41 13%
Researcher 15 5%
Student > Ph. D. Student 15 5%
Student > Doctoral Student 12 4%
Other 47 15%
Unknown 128 41%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 104 34%
Medicine and Dentistry 35 11%
Social Sciences 9 3%
Psychology 5 2%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 4 1%
Other 19 6%
Unknown 133 43%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 37. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 October 2023.
All research outputs
#1,049,175
of 24,792,414 outputs
Outputs from BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
#211
of 4,623 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#21,353
of 321,213 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
#6
of 87 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,792,414 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 95th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,623 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 321,213 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 87 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.