Abstract:
The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the relationship of pain medication received, sense of control, perceived nurse support, and comfort during labor of first time mothers. The theory of comfort (Kolcaba, 2003) was adopted as a conceptual framework. The purposive sample consisted of 90 women who were admitted in Sappasithiprasong hospital and Ramathibodi hospital for delivery and postpartum rehabilitation between April and August 2016. Data were collected using the Demographic Data Questionnaire, the Labor Agentry Scale, the Labor Support Scale, and Maternal Comfort during Labor Questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out by descriptive statistics and Pearson's product moment correlation. Results of the study revealed that, sense of control and perceived nurse support were significantly related positive to comfort during labor (r = .66, r = .40, p < .05) but pain medication received and comfort during labor were not related (r = .06, p > .05). According to the results of this study, intrapartum nurses should support the women during labor in accordance to their needs and find strategies to promote the sense of control using their coping ability in labor situations, which could lead to holistic comfort including physical, psycho-spiritual, social, and environmental comfort.