Pain Relief During Labour

Pain in childbirth is normal, it is nothing to fear, it is defined pain that lasts till the birth. Fortunately there are a number of natural and medical ways to help manage this pain. We support women in their choices/preferences in pain management. Leaving your options open is usually a wise choice because every birth is different and you can use as much or as little of the pain relief options as you desire. Our antenatal classes cover pain relief options in more detail.

Natural pain relief

Active birth - moving around and changing positions is very helpful in dealing with the pain, may help establish labour and help the baby move down into the pelvis
Heat - heat packs, showering or getting into a bath may help
Touch and massage
Music
Self Hypnosis/hypnobirthing

Assisted non-medical pain relief

Acupuncture or acupressure
TENS

Medical pain relief

Nitrous Oxide Gas – (laughing gas) is given as a mixture with oxygen and is available to all women in the birth suite
Morphine – is an injection that takes 20 minutes to work and can last for 3 hours. It cannot be given if the birth is likely to happen in less than 2 hours as it will remain in the baby’s circulation after birth and may interfere with the baby's breathing. Usually given with anti-nausea medication.
Epidural - a small catheter (tube) is inserted through the back into the epidural space by an anaesthetist. A local anaesthetic is continuously given through this tube. It is very effective pain relief and if it works well, women do not feel the contractions. They may still feel pain during crowning. It alters sensation from the waist down and may cause weakness in the legs so women cannot walk around with an epidural in place. They also need a bladder catheter (tube) to empty their bladders. Women with epidurals need continuous fetal monitoring. Whilst epidurals work well for most women, unfortunately, it is not effective in 1%.