Labor can be an excruciatingly painful process. It is no wonder that so much time, energy, and money have gone into the research of ways to deal with labor pain. Fortunately, there are many pain relief options during labor.

Some of the non-medicinal ways to cope with pain during labor can include:

- Relaxation techniques. Learn to relax the specific parts of your body that might be hurting, whether it is your back, your uterus, or wherever. Learning breathing patters may also help you with the process of relaxation.

- Massage. Having your partner or birth coach give you a massage during labor may help to alleviate some of the general pain and tension.

- Changing positions. Many women find that shifting around during labor help to ease the pain. In particular, positions that utilize gravity in helping the baby to descend tend to be successful.

- Water therapy. A bath, a shower, or even a foot bath may help to reduce pain during labor.

- Movement. Rocking or swaying may help to keep the pelvis moving and reduce pain.

During the early stages of labor your obstetrician may offer you intravenous or intramuscular injection of medication to ease the pain of labor. Narcotics, such as meperidine (Demerol) or butorphanol (Stadol), are often used. Narcotics will help with mild contractions in early labor but generally are insufficient to relieve the stronger contractions associated with active labor. In the past, other narcotics such as morphine have been used. Some of the general side effects of narcotics during labor can be:

- Nausea

- Vomiting

- Itching

- Sedation

- Decreased gastric motility

- Loss of protective airway reflexes

- Hypoxia due to respiratory depression

Stadol is often the choice of many women and their physicians when selecting a narcotic pain reliever. Stadol is considered more potent than morphine and Demerol. Stadol generally starts working in less then five minutes. Stadol is considered to have minimal fetal effects, and creates minimal nausea.

Other medications that can relieve pain during labor and delivery can include an epidural anesthesia or a spinal block. An epidural is administered through an extremely thin tube between the spinal cord and outer membranes. When used for labor it dulls feeling from your stomach to your feet. Having an epidural will still allow you to feel contractions enabling you push your baby out after your cervix is completely dilated. At times the epidural is turned down, or off, so that you can push well at the end of your labor.

A Spinal Block should not be confused with an epidural. With a spinal, the medication is given only once. With an epidural, a catheter is inserted into the location in the spine so that additional medicine may be dispensed at a later time. A spinal is most often used when you need pain relief for only a limited period of time, such as with a cesarean delivery or a vaginal delivery in which instruments are required to help the baby out.

Regardless of the method you choose to manage pain during labor and delivery, it is important that you discuss with your health care provider the risks and effectiveness of each method.

Posted in Labor

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