Cortisol Effect on Maternal Pain in the Labor Environmental Settings

Abstract

A safe and satisfactory birth experience depends on some degree of stress experienced by a woman giving birth. Fear and anxiety can disrupt the subtle neuro-hormonal influences that drive labor and birth, allowing for intervention at delivery and associated with greater potential risk to life for the well-being of women, infants and families. Setting the delivery environment is one of the nonpharmacological methods to divert attention from maternal pain. This study aims to determine the effect of cortisol hormone on maternal pain in the setting of labor environment. This research uses quasi experimental method of pre post test with control group design with 60 mothers in SelfEmployment Midwife (in Bahasa Indonesia, it was abbreviated as BPM). Test statistical analysis using Mann-Whitney Test, T Test and Double Regression Test. The results obtained were: there was a difference of average pain between treatment and control group at T1 (4,97 vs 5,67; p = 0,109), and at T3 (8,27 vs 8,50; p = 0,218), whereas in T2 the mean pain of the treatment group was lower than in the control group (6.70 vs 7.30, p = 0.039). There was no effect of percentage increase of cortisol level with labor pain (P> 0,05). Conclusion of this research there was no effect of cortisol on maternal pain in labor environmental setting.