More hospitals may offer nitrous oxide during labor and delivery, as nurse midwives push facilities to give women an intermediate option short of an epidural, according to an ABC News report.
The University of California San Francisco Medical Center is one of only three centers in the country that currently offer nitrous oxide to labor patients. According to the report, nitrous oxide may provide pain relief and comfort when the patient prefers to not receive an epidural. Opioid painkillers, which are also available, typically don't have much effect on labor pain, according to the report.
Hospitals that offer nitrous oxide during labor generally install specialized nitrous oxide equipment in the delivery room that fixes the oxygen-to-nitrous ratio at 50/50. The woman then holds the mask in her hand to control how much anesthetic she receives. Unlike an epidural, nitrous oxide allows women to leave the bed to go to the bathroom if they need to.
Read the ABC News report on nitrous oxide.
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The University of California San Francisco Medical Center is one of only three centers in the country that currently offer nitrous oxide to labor patients. According to the report, nitrous oxide may provide pain relief and comfort when the patient prefers to not receive an epidural. Opioid painkillers, which are also available, typically don't have much effect on labor pain, according to the report.
Hospitals that offer nitrous oxide during labor generally install specialized nitrous oxide equipment in the delivery room that fixes the oxygen-to-nitrous ratio at 50/50. The woman then holds the mask in her hand to control how much anesthetic she receives. Unlike an epidural, nitrous oxide allows women to leave the bed to go to the bathroom if they need to.
Read the ABC News report on nitrous oxide.
Related Articles on Anesthesia:
Potentially Fatal Kidney Condition Could Be Caused by Anesthesia
Anesthesiology Had Second Highest Participation Rate in 2009 PQRS
New White Paper on Anesthesiologist and CRNA Participation Rates in the PQRS