Women’s beliefs of pain after childbirth: Critical insight for promoting behavioral strategies to regulate pain and reduce risks for maternal mortality

Promoting behavioral strategies to better regulate pain and decrease the use of prescription pain medications immediately after childbirth is an attractive approach to reduce risks for adverse outcomes associated with the maternal mortality crisis. This study aimed to understand women’s beliefs and experiences about pain management to identify important insights for promoting behavioral strategies to control postpartum pain. Methods: N = 32 postpartum women participated in a semi-structured interview about beliefs/experiences with managing postpartum pain. Higher- and lower-order themes were coded; descriptive statistics were used to summarize results. Results: Major trends emerging from the data were: (1) most women used a combination of medications (e.g., oxycodone and acetaminophen) and behavioral strategies (e.g., physical activity) in the hospital (94 %) and at discharge (83 %); (2) some women reported disadvantages like negative side effects of medications and fatigue from physical activity; and (3) some women reported they would have preferred to receive more evidence-based education on behavioral strategies during prenatal visits. Conclusion: Our findings showed that most women were prescribed medications while in the hospital and at discharge, and used non-prescription, behavioral strategies. Practical Implications: Future research is needed to test behavioral strategies in randomized clinical trials and clinical care settings to identify impact on reducing adverse maternal health outcomes. •Maternal mortality is a major public health crisis; identifying effective strategies to reduce risks is a high priority.•Most women were given prescription medications while in the hospital and at again at the time of discharge to regulate their childbirth pain.•Many reported that they would have preferred to use non-prescription, behavioral pain management strategies.•Use of behavioral pain management strategies to better regulate pain after childbirth is one way to reduce adverse outcomes.