| More women are opting for some type of pain relief | | | | newer research shows that those who are |
| during their labor and delivery, according to a study | | | | concerned about receiving pain relief during early labor |
| by the Department of Anesthesiology at the | | | | may be able to rest easy. |
| University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences | | | | Spinal-epidural analgesia during early labor does not |
| Center. | | | | increase the cesarean delivery rate in first-time |
| A survey of 378 hospitals showed that only 6 | | | | mothers, according to a study by Dr. Cynthia A. |
| percent to 12 percent of women did not request pain | | | | Wong, associate professor of anesthesiology at |
| relief, compared to 11 percent to 33 percent nine | | | | Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine |
| years prior. | | | | in Chicago. |
| Regional analgesia, including epidural, spinal or | | | | This study also found that analgesia via combined |
| combined epidural-spinal techniques, accounted for 76 | | | | spinal-epidural techniques resulted in better pain relief |
| percent of the anesthesia services provided in the | | | | and a shorter labor when compared to pain |
| larger hospitals and for 57 percent in smaller hospitals. | | | | medications administered by other routes such as |
| There are two types of regional pain-relieving drugs - | | | | intravenous or intramuscular injections. |
| analgesics and anesthetics. Analgesia - pain relief | | | | "Mothers have come to expect the kind of pain relief |
| without total loss of feeling or muscle movement - is | | | | provided by regional techniques," said Dr. Brenda |
| typically administered to women in labor. This | | | | Bucklin, associate professor of anesthesiology at the |
| treatment blocks pain by numbing the nerves around | | | | University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences |
| the spinal or epidural space that encases the spinal | | | | Center. "With recent studies showing that having this |
| cord. Anesthesia blocks all feeling and movement. | | | | type of anesthesia early in labor will not increase |
| In the past, doctors debated the safety of using an | | | | chances of a cesarean delivery, I think their |
| epidural during early labor in first-time mothers. But | | | | popularity will continue. |