Effects of Breast Feeding on Post-Cesarean and Post-Vaginal Delivery Pain

Patients will be recruited by a member of the research team when the patient is admitted to labor or delivery and when they are in the post-natal floor. Patients will be divided into two groups initially depending on mode of delivery, vaginal vs. cesarean. The vaginal delivery group will be randomized into three groups. One group will be told that we are investigating the effect of oxytocin on pain intensity, the second group will be told that it reduces pain intensity, the third group will be told that it increases pain intensity. The cesarean group are not going to be randomized, they will be told we are investigating the effect of oxytocin on pain intensity. Demographic and obstetric will be collected by patient questioning as well as from the medical record on Day 1 post delivery. Analgesia data from the medical record will also be collected on days 1 and 2 post-delivery. The primary outcome measure will be change in pain scores (0=no pain, 10=worse pain imaginable) during and after breastfeeding compared to pain before. We will examine both vaginal, cramping and surgical pain as appropriate. The patients will be given a breastfeeding diary to complete, which will record the average pain scores (0-10) before, during and after each breastfeed. Secondary outcome measure will include: Depression, PTDS, and other outcome measures. Patients will also be asked to complete pain intensity and depression (The Edinburgh Depression Scale) and a PTSD questionnaires. We will also determine pain preferences as relating to pain intensity and duration by another questionnaire. At 6 weeks post-delivery, a member of the research team will call the participant to ask questions regarding current pain scores, success of breastfeeding and weight of the baby. The study end-point is 6 weeks post-delivery. We will debrief participants who had deception at completion of the whole study.