Analgesia and anesthesia during labor in Japan and developed countries

Analgesia and anesthesia during labor were surveyed by the use of a questionnaire sent to university hospitals in USA, UK, France, FRG, GDR, Japan, and also other types of institutions in Japan. A rather negative attitude toward analgesia and anesthesia during labor was encountered less often in Japan than in USA, UK, and FRG, but the actual frequency of use was much less in Japan. Narcotics and/or tranquilizers were most frequently used in the first stage of labor. The only exception was France where lumbar epidural anesthesia was actually used as a method of choice at 70% of the institutions. Lumbar epidural anesthesia or some other regional block was the method of choice in the second stage except in UK where inhalation of nitrous oxide was the method of choice at 48% of the institutions. Augmentation of labor was much more frequent and the number of annual deliveries were much less in Japan. Higher C-section rate was seen in USA.