Aim: To investigate factors related to analgesic use after delivery, and especially whether rates of analgesic use were different in a midwife-managed maternity hotel as compared to conventional postnatal wards.
Setting: One maternity hotel and two conventional postnatal wards at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo, Norway.
Method: Data were obtained from hospital records for 804 women with vaginal deliveries.
Main outcome measure: Postnatal analgesic use.
Results: Overall, approximately half the women used analgesics after vaginal delivery in both conventional postnatal wards and maternity hotel. The factors that were significantly associated with use of analgesics postnatally in multivariate analysis were multiparity, having a non-Western ethnicity, smoking in pregnancy, younger age, instrumental delivery, analgesic use during labour, maternal complications post partum, and duration of postnatal stay 4 days or more.
Conclusion: The use of analgesics is determined by socio-demographic and obstetric factors rather than the organisation of the ward.