In a national sample of 10,702 women delivered in one week in 1990 data on their perceptions of pain and the effectiveness of pain relief methods were compared with those of the professionals attending them. Professionals' conceptions of pain relief tended to be restricted to pharmacological methods. Overall, the level of agreement about effectiveness of pain relief was quite low, with medical staff commonly believing they were providing adequate pain relief while the women reported it as unsatisfactory. This was particularly the case for pethidine, while 'Entonox' was rated more highly by women than staff. Professionals were significantly more likely to agree with one another about effectiveness than to agree with the women, and were less likely to have responded where the women judged their pain relief as poor.