Anaesthetists provide pain relief on delivery suite with epidurals and patient controlled analgesia (PCAs) in addition to providing anaesthesia for caesarean sections and other operations around the time of delivery.
National information
I recommend the following website for further information, written by the Obstetric Anesthetists’ Association:
Contains information for expectant parents and healthcare professionals on pain relief choices during labour. Also includes leaflets in many other languages
Local information
You may find the following Royal Berkshire Hospital patient information leaflets helpful. These can be accessed via the Royal Berkshire Hospital website.
RBH maternity patient information leaflets
Go to www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk and select ‘Services’. Please then select ‘Maternity’. Select ‘Maternity Information Leaflets’. The leaflets are presented in alphabetical order. The following leaflet lists all the anaesthetic relevant leaflets available:
- Anaesthetic leaflets for maternity patients
The most commonly accessed are listed below:
- Anaesthetics for caesarean birth
- Breastfeeding and pain relief
- Epidurals for pain relief including programmed intermittent epidural boluses (PIEB) pumps
- Pain relief after birth
- Pain relief in labour