Pregnancy guide > Labour and birth > Pain relief > Pain relief in labour

Pain relief in labour

Useful information on the various methods of pain relief that may be available during labour including water, tens, epidural and entonox.

Labour for most women is painful. Thankfully in pregnancy the levels of endorphins, the body's natural pain relieving substances, which are similar to opium, increase to reach their peak when you go into labour.

If you can keep calm and relaxed they will help you. Pain relief falls into two categories:

Water and TENS which enhance your body's ability to cope with pain.
Drugs that can be used in labour to reduce or eliminate the pain you experience. These drugs are:
Entonox or gas and air
Pethadine and similar injections
Epidural

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what are the side effects in the long run of taking a pain relief at the time of giving birth
by Nidhij	7th Dec 2010, 8:44am

iam so glad i never had any pain relief i was hard but i really like having an natural birth x
by sianywoo	2nd Sep 2009, 10:28am

Acupressure for labour is fantastic in giving relief from labour pain! Even if you are not planning to have a natural childbirth, I'd really recomend a book about maternity acupressure method. I found the book at http://www.maternityacupressure.com/
by jaajamom	27th Nov 2007, 9:06am

TENS machines
Useful information on TENS machines including advice on what to look for when buying or hiring an obstetric tens machine for pain relief in labour.

Pain relief in labour: Pethidine
Useful information about the various drugs given during labour to relieve the pain of giving birth with informatin on pethidine and meptid.

Pain relief in labour: Epidural
Useful information, including the advantages and disadvntages of the epidural as one method of pain relief during labour.

Pain relief in labour: Entonox (gas and air)
Useful information on the advantages and disadvantages of using Entonox (gas and air) as a form of pain relief during childbirth.

Pain relief in labour: Water
Advice on the advantages and disadvantages of waterbirth as a method of pain relief during labour with information on the availability of birthing pools.