The Relationship between the Observances of Codes of Professional Ethics by Delivery Agents with Women's Perception of the Pain of Natural Childbirth

Background & aim: One of the important areas of midwifery services is safe satisfying delivery with the least amount of pain. The moral and professional commitment of health professionals and caregivers is the most important aspect of labor pain management. So, the purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between observance codes of professional ethics by the birthing team with the perception of labor pain as the parturient viewpoint in Yasuj city. Methods: This was a descriptive correlational study involving 200 parturient women who were referred to a labor center affiliated to Yasuj university of medical sciences for vaginal birth. The sampling method was convenient sampling method. For collecting data, three questionnaires, comprising demographic information, perception of labor pain questionnaire, and a questionnaire about women's attitudes toward medical ethics in the childbirth process were completed by parturient women during 24 and 48 hours after delivery. The data were loaded into SPSS-22 and analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis in p<0.05 significance level. Results: The results of multiple regression analysis showed that among the four principles of professional ethics, the first (autonomy), second and third principles of medical ethics (as beneficence and non-maleficence) predicted the perception of labor pain (p<0.05). Among the components of these principles, mother’s privacy related to first principle (B=-0.28, p=0.003), mother’s health (B=-0.23, p=0.017) and mother’s need for pain reductions (B=-0.18, p=0.014) related to second and third principles were negative predictors of labor pain perception score. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, the birthing team can make a pleasant experience for mothers by considering autonomy, benefice, and non-malfeasance principles to parturient and improvement of communication skills in the delivery room. As a result, it would be taken a step in the improvement of maternal and child health and the prevention of further irreversible mental damage.