It is difficult to anticipate the amount of pain that you may experience during labor and delivery. While you may have the best intentions of drug-free childbirth, when the times comes you may decide to opt for some kind of pain relief.
Be prepared to accept that you may want pain relief during labor. Bear in mind that some time may be necessary before the onset of relief after the drug is administered. If you wait until you cannot bear it any more it may be too late.
Regional anestheticsAn agent or process that removes the body's sensitivity to pain. Anesthetics are usually medically administered chemicals, although they include other forms such as hypnosis, or the body's own ability to cause numbness through shock.
Anesthetics can either be local, whereby only a portion of the body or an individual organ is desensitized or general, in which the entire body is desensitized, with the result the patient is often temporarily unconcious.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. are designed to remove sensation from specific parts of the body by blocking nerve fibers. They are useful because they do not numb the entire body, leaving you sensitive to experience your environment.
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Developed in 1942 by W.B. Edwards and R.A. Hingston at Philadelphia General Hospital, the caudal or spinal block was an important breakthrough in the management of pain during childbirth. The anestheticAn agent or process that removes the body's sensitivity to pain. Anesthetics are usually medically administered chemicals, although they include other forms such as hypnosis, or the body's own ability to cause numbness through shock.
Anesthetics can either be local, whereby only a portion of the body or an individual organ is desensitized or general, in which the entire body is desensitized, with the result the patient is often temporarily unconcious.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. is administered into the directly into the spinal fluid in the sacral canal through a needle inserted through the lower back and this technique was a primary method of anesthesia in childbirth until the 1960s.
Caudal anesthesia is still used if short term pain relief is needed from the waist down. The block numbs the vagina and perineumThe part of the body between the genitalia and the anus. In the female body it is the area that extends back from the vagina to anus.Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. and is mostly used for short term relief if forcepsA medical instrument of which there are many varieties which consists of two handles and two flat sides. They are sometimes used to deliver a baby, especially when speed is necessary to overcome fetal distress, or dystocia. A forceps delivery will leave superficial marks on the baby's head and face which will disappear in a few days.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. or vacuum extractionA device that is used to aid in delivery by means of a vacuum to gain traction on the head of the fetus.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. required. Your doctor may decide to offer it if you need quick relief and it is too late to provide an epidural block.
The benefits of a caudal block are quick action and minimal effect on the baby, but because you are numb from the waist down you may find it harder to push your baby prolonging the second stage of labor. Common side effects of caudal anesthesia include nausea and itching, particularly on the face.
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The pudendal block is a more complete pain reliever, designed to deaden the pudendal nerves surrounding the vulvaThe external genitalia, consisting in women of the mons veneris, the labia majora, the labia minora, the vestibule of the vagina, the urinary meatus and the vestibular glands. In men it consists of the penis, scrotum and the testes.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. and labia majora. This procedure uses the anestheticsAn agent or process that removes the body's sensitivity to pain. Anesthetics are usually medically administered chemicals, although they include other forms such as hypnosis, or the body's own ability to cause numbness through shock.
Anesthetics can either be local, whereby only a portion of the body or an individual organ is desensitized or general, in which the entire body is desensitized, with the result the patient is often temporarily unconcious.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. lidocaine, chloroprocaine or mepivacaine, which is administered directly into the pudendal canal; the site of the pudendal nerve.
While it is an effective pain reliever and is sometimes used prior to performing an episiotomyA surgical procedure in which an incision is made in the perineum to enlarge the vaginal opening and faciliate delivery of the baby or prevent tearing of the perineum. It is closed with absorbable sutures.
There are two types of episiotomy; the medilateral, cut at 45 degrees with midline, and median cut in the midline. The former offers more room for delivery but is more painful postpartum, while the latter heals more easily, but provides less room for delivery.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions., it is being replaced by other pain relief methods partly because accurate placing of the anesthetic is critical. The preferred anesthetic is lidocaine because it lasts 1.5 - 2 hours compared to chloroprocaine which lasts only one hour.
Perhaps the best known and most complete pain reliever is the epidural block. An epidural block serves to remove all sensation from the waist to the knees thus allowing you to remain alert. The disadvantage is that you may find it harder to push because your waist is numb, thus prolonging the second stage of labor. Depending on how the drug affects you, you may also be unable to stand until the effects wear off. Your doctor will recommended an epidural block if you have a difficult labor, preeclampsia or severe asthma. It may be used if you need a forceps deliveryA medical instrument of which there are many varieties which consists of two handles and two flat sides. They are sometimes used to deliver a baby, especially when speed is necessary to overcome fetal distress, or dystocia. A forceps delivery will leave superficial marks on the baby's head and face which will disappear in a few days.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions.. Many women who have a cesarean section have an epidural instead of a general anesthetic.
When an epidural is administered, a small hollow needle is inserted into the epidural space in your lower back, below the end of the spinal cord. A catheter is inserted and a small dose administered. According to the effects of the drug the dose will be altered to provide continued relief while your blood pressure and your baby's heart rate are regularly monitored.
Inhalation analgesics are gases you administer yourself with a face mask. The most common inhalation analgesic is Entonox (gas and oxygen). Because it is self administered you inhale deeply as the contraction starts and carry on until the contraction peaks or you have had enough. Put mask aside and then breathe normally. Entonox or a similar inhalation analgesic will numb the pain centers in the brain and make you feel as though your floating. Your prenatal classes may give instruction on using inhalation analgesics.
While they are now considered old fashioned by many doctors, narcoticsA substance that induces insensibility or stupor. In pharmacology narcotics usually refer to drugs dervied from synthetic or natural opiates that relieve the perception of pain, induce eurphoria or sleep or reduce mental ability.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. such as pethidine are still useful pain relievers. Pethidine is a morphine derivative that is injected into the thigh or buttock during the first stage of labor and it takes about twenty minutes to take effect. The drug dulls the painful sensation by acting nerve cells in the brain and spine. If your doctor suggests using pethidine or a similar narcotic you may want to ask for small dose first to see how you are affected.
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