Introduction: Delivery and postpartum pain is individually experienced by each woman. Many women can feel a more intensive pain the first time they feel it, but they cannot know how they will react to it. One of the roles of a midwife is to care for a woman with such pain. This article deals with research regarding delivery and postpartum pain that was carried out in obstetrics departments in the South Bohemian Region. Goal: The research objective was to map the intensity of postpartum pain (which depends on the women’s age and the number of deliveries), to find out what organ was affected by postpartum pain and whether women were informed about the pain. Materials and methods: The research was carried out using the quantitative method of a non-standardized questionnaire and the standardized questionnaire of PCS (The Pain Catastrophizing Scale).The sample group consisted of 635 respondents who had experienced vaginal delivery. Results: 74.3% of women stated postpartum pain. They assessed the pain using VAS (visual analogue scale). 36.5% experienced mild pain, 44.1% experienced moderate pain and 19.4% experienced severe pain. The older the women were, the higher the percentage of those who experienced pain was. Younger women (up to 25 years) considered the pain to be greater. It was statistically proven that age and the organ affected by postpartum pain were connected. The youngest women (up to 25 years) significantly more frequently stated that the postpartum pain was caused by episiotomy. The older the women were, the higher the percentage of those who stated that their postpartum pain was caused by the involution of the uterus. Most frequently, postpartum pain was in the place of the carried out episiotomy or the cause was the involution of the uterus or the women had backache. Conclusion: For quality care in midwifery, the assessment of pain is important, as well as the education of women on the reasons for such pain and the options for decreasing it. Midwives should focus especially on younger women, whose pain is associated with episiotomy.

Silesian University Faculty of Public Policies in Opava Czech Republic

University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Institute of Nursing Midwifery and Emergency Care České Budějovice Czech Republic

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