Labour is an uncomfortable experience and unless it is very short you will need something to help you when you have a contraction. Pain is always more frightening when you are in a strange place and feel very lonely. Therefore contractions are likely to feel better if you are accompanied by someone you know, preferably your husband, and you know what to expect. There are many useful drugs which are now used to make labour much more comfortable. It is now very rare to hear women crying out in pain in a labour ward; to me they are much quieter and calmer places today.

Pain relieving drugs

There are many drugs which can be given by injection into a muscle or, to act more quickly into a vein. Some of them also have a sedative action, so that they make you sleepy and less anxious. The doctor will give you one of these drugs if you find the pain very unpleasant. Some of them have an effect on the baby's breathing at birth and so may have to be used less toward the end of labour.

Nitrous oxide.

This is a gas which you can breathe when you have a pain. It is given in a mixture with oxygen and acts very quickly giving you immediate relief during a pain; it passes off rapidly afterwards but may leave you light-headed for a little time. The nurse will show you how to use a mask to breathe the gas and she will also tell you when to use it. It does not affect the baby's breathing at birth and so can be used late in labour.

Epidural anaesthesia

This is a modern method of relieving the pain of labour. An injection can be made into your back around the nerves which come from the uterus and the vagina. The local anesthetic used is similar to the drug you are given to prevent pain when having a tooth filled. It will therefore relieve pain completely, but it often means that you will lose ability to feel things, such as the pressure of the baby's head in the vagina.

A needle is passed into the back, between two of the bones, to introduce a fine tube outside the covering of the spinal cord. Repeated injections of the drug can be made into this tube as often as necessary during labour, to give prolonged, complete pain relief.

It is undoubtedly a very useful way of giving you as comfortable a labour as possible. One of the advantages is that you will not need other drugs and can be quite conscious when the baby is born. Many hospitals now have facilities for this type of pain relief, so you may ask for it if you wish. There are some problems with epidural anaesthesia: for instance, you do not always know when to push and you will need to feel your abdomen to see when you have a contraction. You occasionally get a headache afterwards, but this is very uncommon.