Though labour is a normal physiological process, it is associated with some amount of pain. Pain is a very subjective phenomena and dependent on the individual. It depends on many factors like the person’s physical build, her emotional status, her mental outlook, associated and coincidental problems etc. Since there are so many factors that influences pain perception, pain relief can be achieved by changing some or all these factors.
Labour analgesia was first practiced way back in 1847 when chloroform was used by a Scottish physician called James Simpson. The only problem was that the woman woke up 3 days after the delivery and refused to believe that she had delivered.Later on prominent people like Queen Victoria also did experience “Painless Labour”.
During that time it was believed that to opt for painless labour was immoral. The justification was that labour pain was punishment to the woman for Eve’s indiscretion in Eden. But this is a thing of the past and more and more people are going in for pain relief during labour by either medications or other forms of therapy.
There is madication for painless labour like epidural and spinal anaesthesia: This type of medication is by far the most popular or commonly followed method. Both are nearly similar but Epidural is preferred for a variety of technical reasons. In Epidural anesthesia / analgesia, a local anaesthetic agent is injected inside the vertebral column in the region of the lower back. This reduces the backache and abdominal pain during labour. The doctor may inject the local anaesthetic by a special needle (single shot EA) or more preferably, pass a thin plastic tube into the vertebral column through the needle. The needle is removed and the plastic tube kept in place.
Local anaesthetic agent is injected through this plastic tube at periodic intervals depending upon the need of the patient – no matter how long the labour. The catheter is kept for some time after delivery and then removed. This can also be used to give anaesthesia during Caesarean section. For further details regarding the same, it is best to approach your doctor who can then manage a meeting with the hospital anesthetist, so that all your doubts regarding the technique can be cleared.
