Women feel less pain during childbirth when their partner isn’t present, according to a study published today.
Researchers from University College London, King’s College London and the University of Hertfordshire studied 39 women in labour who were each given a pinprick laser pulse on their finger when their boyfriend or husband was in the room. The women were asked to rate their pain as researchers analysed the electrical activity in their brain. The scientists then repeated the experiment with the man standing in another room.
The study found that the women’s pain was never reduced by the presence of the partners, and in many cases increased when they entered the room. They didn’t find a woman whose pain was reduced with her husband or boyfriend present, in any of the cases they studied. This increase in pain was most evident in women whose relationship with their partner was less intimate.
Scientists say that the results, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, should change the advice doctors give to pregnant women.
