Childbirth in Kuwait: The experiences of three groups of Arab mothers

The aims of the present study were to characterize the childbirth experiences of three groups of Arab mothers delivering in Kuwait and to evaluate the use of visual analog scales (VAS) for assessing their pain (N = 301). Kuwaiti, Palestinian, and Bedouin women who were expected to have an uncomplicated vaginal delivery were studied. 73% of the women described their maximum labor pain as “unbearably painful,” and more than one-half reported that they were “very frightened” or “terrified.” The deliveries of Bedouin mothers were remarkable for the absence of pain behaviors; yet their VAS reports indicated that they experienced no less pain. Painful menstruation and fear of childbirth emerged as risk factors for a painful labor. Among the issues discussed are the validity of the VAS data, the difficulties of managing Bedouin mothers' pain, and the importance of excluding physical factors before cultural differences in pain perception are assumed.