How to Get Relief for Labor Pains

For a woman having her first baby, the period involving certain internal physical activities prior to the actual giving of birth - called labor - can last for as long as a day or even longer. Labor has three stages. The initial stage begins with the onset of labor pains. This stage continues up to the time that the cervix (the narrow outer end of the uterus through which the baby must pass) is completely dilated.

The next stage involves the actual moving or passing of the baby through the birth canal, the channel that runs from the cervix to the vaginal opening. This stage ends when the baby is born. The last stage of labor takes place as the placenta, amnion, and other tissues are forced out. In subsequent childbirths, the duration of labor is considerably reduced.

In natural childbirth classes, expectant moms learn how to handle labor pains without the aid of anesthesia or other medications - by performing different relaxation and breathing exercises. Not all women, however, have the same capacity for enduring pain; some are more sensitive than others. This makes the use of any of the various methods for relieving labor pains inevitable.

A safe and simple method for relieving labor pains is with the use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, usually through a face mask. In this method, the woman, while holding the mask herself, breathes through it during each contraction. Nitrous oxide is safe for both the mother and her baby, and has a very short duration. In some cases, however, this pain relief method may not be sufficient. In such cases, the obstetrician may administer pain-relieving compounds orally or by injection; the obstetrician may also use any of the different local or regional anesthetic techniques.

Pudendal block is one example of a local anesthetic technique, so called "because a local anesthetic such as, lidocaine or chloroprocaine, is injected into the pudendal canal where the pudendal nerve is located" (www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/pudendalblock.htm). This technique is often used in combination with episiotomy, a surgical procedure done to enlarge the vaginal opening for obstetric purposes.

In epidural anesthesia, a local anesthetic is injected (in a single dose or continuously) into the area outside the protective covering (dura mater) of the spinal cord in the lower back. This pain relief method voids the body - from the waist down - of any sensation without affecting the ability to cooperate and move.

We know for a fact that no drug is completely risk-free, and avoiding them is most ideal. Of course, there can be instances - as when labor pains become too severe to endure - when a woman can't help but turn to any one of these medications for relief. Others try hypnosis or acupuncture to ease labor pains. Neither of these alternative methods, however, is necessarily suitable or effective for all women. [Read the Original Article]

Sources: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030915/1121ph.html and http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/pudendalblock.htm