[Obstetric analgesia in Norwegian hospitals]

Experience from our hospital has shown a significant increase in the use of epidural analgesia during labour. We wanted to see if this was a general trend in Norway, and wanted to find out for what kind of labour analgesia was offered in the different labour wards.

A questionnaire concerning obstetric analgesia and anaesthetic methods for caesarean section was sent to chief anaesthetists and head midwives in Norwegian hospitals. The information was compared to an identical questionnaire from 1996. In addition, data concerning obstetric analgesia was collected from the Norwegian Medical Birth Register. 77% of the anaesthetic departments and 88% of the labour wards responded to the questionnaire.

The use of epidural analgesia was on an average 20.6% (range 0-40.5%), which is twice as much as in 1996. 75% answered that the parturients' wish for epidural analgesia was reason enough to give an epidural. 84% of caesarean sections were performed in regional anaesthesia and 16% were done in general anaesthesia. This represents a significant reduction in the use of general anaesthesia. 85% of the labour wards offered acupuncture, which is a tremendous increase compared to 1996. Systemic opioids are still widely used, and pethidine is still the most frequently used opioid. Pethidine's negative side effect profile has been widely focused on during the past decade. The hospital's information on the various analgesic methods available for labour analgesi, is clearly improved since 1996.

Obstetric analgesia in Norwegian hospitals has improved substantially since the last survey.