44
People
Number of people in A&E department
1:08
Hours
Average wait to be seen by a clinician
1:32
Hours
Average time in the department
Related wards
Pain relief during labour
Labour can be painful so it is important to know what pain relief options are available to you. Please talk to your midwife during your antenatal appointments so you can decide what is best for you. You can change your mind at any stage, as you may find you want more pain relief than you'd planned and your midwife can help suggest a more effective pain relief to help you.
Hydrotherapy is the use of water for pain relief. Being in water can help ease pain and shorten first stage of labour. Some of our birthing rooms on Delivery Suite and Rushey Unit have birthing pools, please let your midwife know if you would like to use the pool during your labour.
Entonox is a combination of nitrous oxide gas and oxgyen. It can be used during labour to help quickly ease contraction pain.
An epidural is a local anaesthetic which is only available on the delivery suite as it needs close monitoring. Epidurals are available 24 hours a day and can be helpful if you are having a long labour or are not managing with pain.
An epidural can provide you with complete pain relief during labour.