Narcotics

What narcotics are in common use in the U.S. for relieving labor pain?

What are the effects of narcotics on labor pain?

How are narcotics administered?

What are the advantages of narcotics?

• have a short lag time between requesting a narcotic injection and receiving it; there is no lag time with patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) once it's set up
• do not interfere with labor progress or ability to push
• can be helpful if backache between contractions prevents rest
• do not require presence of an anesthesiologist for their administration and monitoring.

What are the drawbacks of narcotics?

• are not very effective at relieving contraction pain: in some settings, quite a few women with narcotics go on to have an epidural as well
• may confine you to bed
• can cause nausea: for this reason, another medication is often given along with narcotics to counteract this effect
• can lower your blood oxygen level: this is unlikely to be a problem in a healthy mother with a healthy, full-term infant
• can make you drowsy: the way that alcoholic beverages might
• may make it more difficult to work with contractions due to the effects they can have on mental alertness
• may result in a sleepy and unresponsive baby: baby may need resuscitation and a medication (Narcan) to reverse the effects on respiration; PCA may cause more problems in this regard depending on permissible dose and whether you are allowed to use it late in labor
• have adverse effects on newborn behavior, including breastfeeding, that last several days; this is because opioids and their breakdown products cross the placenta, and the baby's immature liver and kidneys take a long time to process them
• may increase the likelihood that the child develops addictive or self-destructive behavior patterns later in life.