Study to determine the treatments used to relieve postpartum pain

Abstract

Background Postpartum pain was a typical issue after a vaginal delivery, which not only affects the woman's physical and mental functioning but also reduces the ability of the mother to care for her new infant, mobility, urine, and fecal incontinence. Objective Our study greatly contributed to assess and analyse clinical outcomes of ibuprofen and acetaminophen to relieve postpartum pain. Patients and methods We recruited 90 women who underwent childbirth and collected all clinical data from hospitals and maternity centers in different hospitals in Iraq during the study period, which extended from April 6, 2022, to August 18, 2023. The women's data was divided into two groups where the first group represented women who took ibuprofen, which included 45 women, and the second group included women who took acetaminophen, which included 45 women. Furthermore, we determined and evaluated the rate of postpartum pain within four hours after receiving treatment. Also, we identified side effects for both groups who underwent postpartum treatment and also evaluated the quality of life of the women during the postpartum period. Results in Our study were shown maternal characteristics outcomes, where gestational age was 267.89 ± 5.32 days in the Ibuprofen group and 270.86 ± 3.24 in the Acetaminophen group, Cesarean section was 18 cases, and Vaginal delivery was 72 cases in the Ibuprofen group, but Cesarean section was 23 cases and Vaginal delivery was 67 cases in Acetaminophen group, singleton pregnancy was 43 cases and twin pregnancy was 2 in Ibuprofen group, while singleton pregnancy was 44 cases and twin pregnancy was 1 in Acetaminophen group. According to pain control and satisfaction rating, we enrolled pain rate before taking treatments of the Ibuprofen group was 5.73 ± 1.87 and the Acetaminophen group was 6.88 ± 1.24, while the pain rating one h after taking treatments was 2.42 ± 1.38, after 2 hours was 1.54 ± 1.26, after 3 hours was 1.05 ± 0.78, after 4 hours was 0.65 ± 0.65, while one h after was 2.94 ± 1.89, 2 h after was 1.97 ± 1.80, 3 h after was 1.36 ± 1.40, 4 h after was 1.02 ± 0.33 in Acetaminophen group. For satisfaction rate of the Ibuprofen group included excellent with 32 cases, good with 10 cases, fear with 2 cases, and poor with 1 case, while the satisfaction rate of the Acetaminophen group included excellent with 28 cases, good with 13 cases, fear with 3 cases, poor with 1 case. Conclusion Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are treatments who more effective and safer to pain relievers of postpartum care for women after childbirth