Archives for Pain Relief
Pain Relief During Labor and Birth
As an expectant mother approaching your due date, a concern that looms large in your mind is the pain that you expect to experience during labor. Will you be able to cope? (more…)
Important Article on the Safety and Risks of Nitrous Oxide Analgesia in Labor
Judith Rooks, CNM, MPH, a noted midwifery author and researcher, has spent countless hours campaigning to re-integrate nitrous oxide into the array of choices for pain relief in labor for…
Epidural Anesthesia in Labor
Most women experience significant pain during labor and birth, and most American women want and expect to receive some form of pharmacologic pain relief. Epidurals are the most effective method,…
Birthing Balls
The "birthing ball" is a wonderful comfort tool for pregnancy and labor. It has become standard equipment in many hospitals and birthing centers, and is carried by doulas when they attend births.…
Doulas
As many midwives have found, a doula can be an invaluable resource to a laboring woman and to a new mother. (more…)
Why is nitrous oxide for pain relief unavailable to most women giving birth in the United States when it is available in so many other countries?
This is the question posed by Judith Rooks, CNM, MS, MPH, a well-known midwifery author, epidemiologist, and researcher. As Ms. Rooks notes in her editorial in the March…
Results of a Symposium on the Nature and Management of Labor Pain
A woman's confidence in her ability to cope appears to influence her experience of labor pain more than any other factor. Published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology,…
Childbirth using Hypnosis
Hypnosis has played a part in obstetrics since around the 1930's. It is not used only with the labor and the birth but also for many problems in the pregnancy such as morning…
Sterile Water Papules
Sterile water papules, or the injection of sterile water into the tissue just below the skin in the sacro-lumbar area, is an old method of pain relief in labor. It…
Pharmaceuticals
You're pregnant, so you think twice about what you put into your body; after all, there are two of you to think about. {mosimage}Pregnant woman have many concerns about both…