So my local news just aired a story talking about a "new pain management medication" for childbirth - nitrous oxide. Which is funny to me, because im pretty sure nitrous oxide is regularly used in labor in Europe. (I read " Birth: a surprising history of how we were born" just before getting pregnant.) I was kind of annoyed at whoever put tat news package and copy together.
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Nitrous Oxide is laughing gas and has been given to women in labour here in the UK for decades. My mum gave birth to me 31 years ago using it! You hear it referred to as "gas and air" (because they mix it with oxygen so you can suck on it over and over without passing out!!). It creates a euphoric effect (makes you off your face, basically) but I don't know any women who've said it stops the pain!!
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They use NO here for dental work. It makes you a lot loopier than anything else I've ever been on!
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My mom used that with me when I was born (32 years ago in Canada). Is it really not used in the US? Or at least "back in the day"?
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yes nitrous oxide is used a lot in england, so it isnt new by any means, but I suppose its new in america, since it isnt popular here yet. it doesnt really stop the pain though, it just slightly takes the edge off from what I've been told.
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Yes, it's routinely used in the UK and also here in Australia. I tried it whilst waiting for my labour room to be ready and it sucked. It didn't take the edge off anything and made me feel nauseous to boot! The only time I threw up during labour was after using gas and air for about five minutes. I will NOT be using it again!
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What they told us in my antenatal classes was that the biggest benefit of it is to help calm the mother down if she's freaking out. It makes you a bit loopy and helps control your breathing. I didn't use it during labor, but some of my friends did and loved it.
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6 comments