[Technical resources in obstetrics, and pain and pain relief during delivery]

An outline is given about the methods of pain relief from 1847 when J.Y. Simpson introduced ether and chloroform in obstetrics until the different methods of regional anaesthesia. The connection between pain in labour and the contractility of the uterus is illustrated. The way of influencing both the contractility and the pain is also described. The use of psychoprophylaxis in obstetrics completes the historical survey.