Childbirth and Postpartum Pain: The Importance of Maternal Pain Control Beyond the Birth Experience
Proper labor and postpartum pain management for both vaginal delivery and cesarean section have immediate peripartum, short-term, and long-term impacts in opioid-naive as well as opioid-dependent parturients and their family members. Improper labor pain control has been linked to post-partum depression and increased demand for cesarean delivery, and the latter by itself has been associated with persistent post-surgical pain. It is no longer acceptable among healthcare workers and patients not to treat the severe pain during childbirth simply because it is a “natural” process, yet healthcare workers and patients continue to struggle with opioid pandemic. This Article Collection focuses on labor pain control, opioid consumption in the current opioid crisis, and the impacts of peripartum and postpartum pain control and opioid use on postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and subsequent delivery.