Nonpharmacological Pain Relief Works

I recently read an abstract of an article from the eOB/GYN News titled: Non-Drug Strategies Fairly Effective for Labor Pain: In the absence of an epidural, nonpharmacologic techniques should be considered, as well as opioids.

The author states "Besides epidurals, "the interesting thing is that immersion in a tub or hands-on techniques came up a little bit above the effectiveness of narcotics" for relieving labor pain, although they were less often used than narcotics, said Ms. Bishop, a certified nurse-midwife and professor of ob.gyn. and reproductive sciences at the University of California."

I am happy to see that the information that midwives, childbirth educators and doulas have been giving for years is finally reaching other care givers. We not only have anecdotal evidence that these techniques work, but there is also substantial research data.

Perhaps we are not alone in changing the conversation about birth...more professionals are talking!