previously been suggested that a reduction of pain scores
by 30 percent might be needed to achieve a clinically
important level when comparing effects of pain-alleviating
treatments (21).
Pain during labor is considered to be normal although
many women describe it as the most severe pain they
have ever experienced (22). Perception of pain has a
tendency to decrease with age. However, this finding is
not the case for the third stage of labor and afterpains
because of women’s age and parity (number of
childbirths) usually correlate.
It has been claimed that remembrance of pain is
affected by a recall bias (23). In one study, women
were asked to rate pain intensity immediately after
delivery. One or two days later, they were asked to
remember how much pain they had experienced imme-
diately after delivery. Analysis showed that the recall
of pain was fairly accurate, irrespective of personality
type, level of education, and parity. These findings pro-
vide some support for the reliability of pain reports
based on memory in a population of women experienc-
ing rather unique pain (24). The accuracy of mothers’
assessment of ‘‘worst pain’’ after the birth of the baby
seems to be reliable in this study, because it is similar
to the results of a study using the Brief Pain Inventory,
which included the item ‘‘pain at its worst in the last
24 hours’’ (25).
The VAS is the most frequently used self-rating tool
for assessment of pain in clinical and research settings.
As pain is a subjective experience, self-report is valid
(26), and the simplicity of the VAS makes it a good tool
for self-reporting pain intensity.
The time chosen for assessment of afterpains was at
the 2-hour follow-up, because we considered it inap-
propriate and unethical to ask the mothers to assess
their pain immediately after childbirth. However,
2 hours after childbirth, many women might regard
afterpains as trivial, which might have affected their
assessments. The scores were low in both groups com-
pared with those on the day after childbirth. This fact
demonstrates that the management of the third stage of
labor does not significantly influence women’s experi-
ence of pain—neither during the third stage nor after
childbirth.
In this study, a higher proportion of women with
induced labor were found in the actively managed group.
We cannot explain this fact although there is no reason
to believe that the randomization procedure should be
biased, as the identification number of the patient was
registered by the midwives in charge of randomization
before the assigned intervention was disclosed.
For most women, childbirth is a positive experience,
but some women do express dissatisfaction (27). Percep-
tion of pain is an individual experience that covers a
wide range of intensity. A person’s capacity to handle
pain differs, depending on when it occurs but is also
related to the situation and the reason for the pain.
Support has been shown to be appreciated, and with
good support women seem to require less pain relief
(28). In this study, no relationship between afterpains
and support could be demonstrated.
A normal duration of the third stage of labor is consid-
ered to last for 5 to 15 minutes (29). The length of the
third stage in our study differed by only 2 minutes (med-
ian) between active and expectant management—a dif-
ference that might be regarded as small. Similar results
have been reported previously (8). A prolonged third
stage of labor has been reported to be a negative experi-
ence by mothers who were expectantly managed (30). In
our study, we did not find any difference in mothers’
experience of childbirth between active and expectant
management.
Conclusions
Active management of the third stage of labor has been
internationally advocated for all women undergoing nor-
mal childbirth. However, this recommendation has been
criticized by caregivers in countries where maternal
mortality related to postpartum hemorrhage has been
eliminated. Our study showed that active management
does not seem to provoke more intense afterpains com-
pared with expectant management. Accordingly, as
active management reduces the amount of postpartum
hemorrhage without provoking more intense pain, we
propose that this method should be offered to women
giving birth at institutions.