The Role of Spiritual Health Experience with Intensity and Duration of Labor Pain While Childbearing and Postpartum

Background: The birth of a child is one of the most important events in a mother's life. The use of religious beliefs and spirituality is often considered as a constructive coping strategy in improving the psychological health of individuals. Objective: the present study aimed to examine the role of spiritual health experience with intensity and duration of labor pain during childbearing and postpartum. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a total of 200 pregnant women who were 37-42 weeks pregnant and referred to Shiraz Medical Hospital for delivery were selected by nonprobability convenience sampling method. Personal and Midwifery Information Questionnaire and Ellison- Paloutzian Spiritual Health Questionnaire were used for data collection. These questionnaires were completed by interviews. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Descriptive test was used for data description and Chi-square test was used for data analysis. The significance level in all testes was set at <0.05. Results: There is a significant negative relationship between the variable of spiritual health and duration of the admission stage until the full opening of the cervix in primipara and multipara. However, there is no significant relationship between the variables of complete opening of the cervix to fetal delivery and fetal delivery to placental delivery and maternal spiritual health. Conclusion: This study increases our knowledge about spiritual health strategies to prevent labor pains and promote mental health in pregnant women. Midwives should be sensitive to the spiritual health of pregnant women and integrate this element into maternal care.