Determination of correlation between women's perspection on supportive care in childbirth and pain of labour

In this study we aimed to investigate the relationship between women's perceptions of the supportive care received during labor and perceived labour pain. The sample of the study consisted of 347 women who had normal vaginal delivery in a state hospital and a university hospital in Tokat. Data were collected by face to face interview method. Descriptive Information Form, Scale of Women's Perception for Supportive Care Given During Labor and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were used as data collection tools. Percentage distributions, mean, median, t test, Mann Whitney U test, Kolmogorov Smirnov test and Spearman Correlation Analysis were used to evaluate the data. 66.9% of the women in the study group stated that they needed a person to support the labor while the most preferred persons for the support were; their partners in 51.9%, their mothers in 23.6% and midwives and nurses in 17.2%. It was found that there was a weak positive correlation between the mean scores of active phase VAS pain score and the mean score obtained from the disturbing behaviors sub-dimension of the Scale of Women's Perception for Supportive Care Given During Labor (r = 0.107, p = 0.047). It was found that, scores from the sub-dimensions and total mean scores of the Scale of Women's Perception for Supportive Care Given During Labor of the women who were satisfied with the birth were higher than those who were not satisfied with the birth and the difference was statistically significant (p <0.05). In conclusion, it was found that there was no negative correlation between perceived supportive care at labor and pain and that perceived supportive care at birth could increase satisfaction with birth. Keywords: Supportive Care, Labor Pain, Midwife, Birth