[Epidural analgesia. Women's viewpoint].

To study women's views on epidural analgesia, three groups of primiparous women were compared. In the first group (41 women), they were given epidural analgesia, after having asked for it during pregnancy. In the second group (79 women), epidural analgesia was given during labour although it had not been planned during pregnancy. The third group included 60 women who underwent labour and delivery using the preparation for childbirth technique alone. The data showed differences between the three groups from medical and social points of views. Women in the first group were of a higher social status than the others; they had been more often admitted to hospital during their pregnancy. Women of the second group more frequently explained that they had psychosocial problems during pregnancy. Furthermore, women who had planned an epidural explained that their choice was mainly due to anxiety. On the other hand the majority of women were rather hostile to this technique. Even though women pointed out the physical and psychological relief due to epidural analgesia, there was no obvious difference in maternal satisfaction between the three groups. Maternal satisfaction with the birth experience was related rather to the moment when the epidural analgesia had been decided on, before or during labour, to the attitude of the medical staff and to the hospital standards for labour and delivery. Advance planning of an epidural analgesia also appeared to be insufficient to keep control of the whole process of childbirth and particularly of its psychological meanings. The study showed that even with a perfect technique, epidural analgesia is not the only possible answer to women's anxiety.