RESEARCH ARTICLE


Elective Cesarean Section for the Prevention of Pain during Labor and Delivery: Is it based on Evidence?



Anibal Faundes1, *
iD
, Laura Miranda2
iD

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
2 Campinas Center for Research on Reproductive Health (CEMICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil


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Creative Commons License
© 2020 Faundes and Miranda.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; E-mail: afaundes@uol.com.br


Abstract

Background:

Avoiding pain during labor and childbirth is one of the principal reasons given by women for requesting a Cesarean section; however, surgical delivery is, in itself, a cause of pain.

Objective:

To compare the pain suffered during labor and vaginal delivery with the pain suffered after a cesarean section with respected to time.

Methods:

Review of the literature for articles evaluating pain after vaginal delivery and after cesarean section.

Results:

Pain after cesarean section may be less severe than during vaginal delivery but last far longer, sometimes for up to a year, interfering with daily life.

Conclusion:

To select elective cesarean section instead of spontaneous vaginal birth to prevent pain is not justified because the pain suffered after cesarean section is long-lasting than pain after vaginal birth for women who had both experiences.

Keywords: Labor pain, Natural childbirth, Cesarean section, Episiotomy, Vaginal birth, Pregnancy.