Lumbar epidural analgesia provded by an obstetrician

A survey of 500 patients who were administered lumbar epidural analgesia by an obstetrician as opposed to an anaesthetist is described. The procedure is safe, patients prefer it, and it has numerous advantages over alternative methods of analgesia in labour. A plea is made for more obstetricians to be trained to use this method, so that it may become more widely available.