A Comprehensive Analysis of Postpartum Analgesia Use
Using routinely collected health records to uderstand post-partum analgesia use and determinants of prolonged pain
Despite advances in labour pain management, postpartum analgesia remains fragmented and understudied, creating significant gaps in maternal care. Current practices vary widely across healthcare settings, influenced more by institutional protocols and individual preferences than evidence-based approaches. This inconsistency creates inequities in care quality and may contribute to prolonged medication use, persistent pain, and barriers to maternal recovery and bonding.
Our proposed study will examine comprehensive patterns of pain relief from pre-pregnancy through to community care following hospital discharge, using detailed electronic health records from approximately 50,000 births across NHS Lothian over five years. By linking hospital prescribing data with community records, we aim to identify the clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic factors associated with prolonged analgesia use and persistent pain following different modes of birth. This research will provide crucial evidence about care transitions between hospital and community settings, potentially informing more personalised and equitable approaches to postpartum pain management based on individual risk factors rather than current 'one-size-fits-all' protocols.