Pregnancy is a dream come true of all couples. The first time mothers are filled with apprehension and innumerable questions. They get their queries solved by consulting their elders and peers and now newsgroups. They develop misconceptions and fears regarding pregnancy and labor.

Epidural anaesthesia is an advance in pain management during labor, which ensures that a pregnant woman has a comfortable labor. It is a regional anaesthesia in which an anaesthetic drug is injected near the spinal cord in the spinal canal.

Areas Affected

• It numbs the body below the waist, but the movements are not impaired.

Time of Anaesthesia

• It is administered when the patient is in active labor.
• It can be given as a single injection or in multiple doses through a special epidural catheter by a skilled anaesthetist.

Advantages

• Almost complete relief from pain with the patient being mobile.
• No postpartum headache as in spinal anaesthesia.
• Mother is conscious and alert throughout the labor.
• An instrumental delivery can be performed under the same anaesthesia, if need arises.
• If the patient has to be taken for caesarean section, the effect can be topped up through the epidural catheter.

Labor Analgesia

It is pain relief during active labor by non-narcotic analgesics. The mother gets amnesia & the pain relief. The progress of labor is faster with proper pain relief during labor.