What are my options for pain relief during labor?
Natural Childbirth or Lamaze techniques IV pain medications can provide some partial pain relief but may make the mother and infant sleepy. Thus, these are usually used only in the early stages of labor. Regional Blocks. Spinal, epidural, or combined spinal / epidural anesthetics are used to minimize labor pain. These therapies partialy numb the lower body and provide pain relief but they do not eliminate all discomfort associated with childbirth. The therapies all have optimal times for administration prior to birth for pain relief. Last minute decisions for this therapy may not allow time for relief to achieve its full potential. Thus, we recommend that patients do their research on this therapy and make their decisions as early in this process as possible. Labor epidural anesthesia is the most common form of pain relief administered. Spinal and epidural anesthetics are achieved by placing a needle and sometimes a small tube (catheter) in the patient’s back in the space surrounding t
