Hi all,
I have been hanging off entering the debate, but might as well add my
comments too. I am working as an Ambulance Paramedic and we often use the
1-10 scale for pain. It provides immediate feedback as to how the patient
perceives their pain. In my situation we can then compare with the mechanism
of injury and other symptoms. Sometimes, if it doesn't add up, there is
something else going on that we need to find. If the pain is off the scale
and the patient has 'minor injuries', there may be something we have missed
in an initial assessment. It's a useful tool to help us ensure that we give
appropriate treatment.
Even when people have learnt to tolerate pain well, they are still
experiencing it and can usually give a good estimation of how severe it is,
even if they don't want pain relief.

I think we can apply this equally well in our work with mothers. If there is
lots of pain - don't think that mum is a wimp, consider that there may be a
complicating factor that has been overlooked. If we take our clients
seriously and they feel that they can trust us to believe them, they will
also trust us to work with them to make things better. I also like Karen's
idea of asking whether they are ready to quit. ("On a scale of 1-10, 1
meaning 'no interference' and 10 meaning you're about to say 'forget it' to
breastfeeding, how much is the pain interfering with your goals for
breastfeeding?" ) Then we know if we need to give just that little more
empathy to help the mum along the way.

warmly,
Querida

Querida David IBCLC
Alyangula. NT. Australia

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