Knowledge Perception and Utilisation of Labour Analgesia Among Antenatal Clinic Attendees in a Tertiary Centre in Makurdi, North-Central Nigeria.

Background: Labour pain management forms an integral part of modern obstetric practice. Despite the availability of various forms of obstetric analgesia in Nigeria, reports indicate poor knowledge, awareness, and utilisation of labour analgesia among the obstetric population.

Objective: To determine the knowledge, perception, utilisation, and factors affecting utilisation of labour analgesia among antenatal clinic attendees at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Makurdi.

Materials and methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted among 421 consecutively consenting antenatal patients in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the FMC, Makurdi, between March 1 to July 31, 2023. Data were collected using an interviewer-guided questionnaire, analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0, and results were presented in textual form and tables.

Results: About 47% (199) of the study participants perceived labour pain as the worst possible pain. Only 18.3% (77) of the study participants were knowledgeable about labour analgesia, while just 6.4% (27) of the study participants had ever used it. On multiple logistics regression, the knowledge of labour pain relief (adjusted odd's ratio [aOR] 0.090, CI = 0.038-0.215, P < 0.001) and mode of previous delivery (aOR 0.292, CI = 0.114-0.750, P < 0.011) were the factors affecting the utilisation of labour analgesia among study participants.

Conclusion: There is poor knowledge and utilisation of labour analgesia among antenatal patients. Incorporation of labour analgesia into existing protocols and enhancing health education on labour analgesia as part of antenatal health talks can create awareness of labour analgesia among antenatal patients.