maternal side-effects of continuous vs. intermittent method of entonox during labor: a randomized clinical trial

labor pain is one of the most tiresome types of pain. so human has been seeking to allay this pain until now. administration of a suitable agent such as entonox during labor is very beneficial for childbirth outcomes. entonox can be administered in two ways: intermittently and continuously. the aim of this study is to demonstrate whether continuous method is as safe as intermittent method? this randomized clinical trial was performed in mobini hospital, sabzevar, iran. one hundred admitted women for vaginal delivery were included in this study. fitted patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. after thorough training, the patients used entonox during active phase of labor. fifty parturients used it intermittently and 50 others used it continuously. then, maternal adverse effects, satisfaction and labor progression were registered and compared in two groups. statistical analysis was performed by spss17 software, t-test and chi square test. the maternal side effects of entonox had no significant difference in two groups (p<0.05). mothers’ satisfaction rate in continuous group was more than the intermittent group significantly (p<0.001). meantime of active phase of labor had no significant difference between two groups (p=0.2). it seems that by more investigations, there will be conditions for mothers to choose the desired method of entonox usage, intermittently or continuously. this approach leads to reduction of difficult labor and cesarean section and consequently helps improvement of maternal health level, both physically and psychologically.