Women who catastrophise labour pain - that is, they have an exaggerated negative orientation to pain - are likely to adjust less readily to the demands of motherhood and are more prone to postpartum depression. Researchers from the University of Haifa, Israel, studied the impact of labour pain intensity and labour pain catastrophising on maternity blues and postpartum social functioning in 89 women in active labour prior to administration of pain-relieving analgesia. Pain catastrophising includes three components: focus on pain, exaggeration of the consequences of pain, and experience of helplessness. After adjusting for the mom's age and education, the number of children she had previously, and type of analgesia, pain catastrophising during labour - rather than pain intensity - significantly predicted maternity blues and postpartum social functioning. Younger and less educated women also had a higher risk of depression and impaired social functioning. These findings suggest that before analgesia is given, pain catastrophising should be addressed. It is possible that early assessment may be of clinical value for the identification of women with the potential risk for later impaired adjustment.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
March 2005