Childbirth drug study could cut epidurals

AN ALTERNATIVE patient-controlled pain relief drug could significantly reduce the number of women requiring an epidural during childbirth, a new study has revealed.

The trial, led by a researcher from the University of Sheffield, compared two drugs given for pain control in labour – pethidine and remifentanil.

Women in established labour were randomly assigned one of the two pain killers and researchers then assessed how many went on to require an epidural.

Pethidine is a drug for pain relief routinely given to around a third of the 750,000 women who give birth in the UK per year and is administered via an injection into a muscle.

Remifentanil Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), which is delivered through a drip that women can control with a hand-held device to give pain relief that coincides with their contractions, is currently offered as standard care in very few UK hospitals.

The results published today show that half the number of women in the remifentanil PCA group went on to require an epidural, compared to the pethidine group.

Chief Investigator, Dr Matthew Wilson of the University of Sheffield’s School of Health and Related Research, said: “While pethidine is commonly used in labour, it does not provide effective pain relief for many women and has unwanted side effects including sedation and nausea. It can also transfer to the baby via the placenta.”

The researchers now hope to see a change in national clinical guidelines.