[Spinal anesthesia. Repercussions on childbirth]

A study was carried out to discover the action of epidural anesthesia on pain, on the evolution of dilation and expulsion intervals, on the number of surgically assisted births, and on perinatal morbidity. Some of the most significant results indicated that with good techniques, pain disappears in all cases; that the dilating period is significantly shortened with epidural anesthesia, although there is an increase in instrumental-assisted childbirths. Even though epidural anesthesia is, as of this writing, the best method available, the ideal pain reduction method has yet to be discovered. Part of this study was presented before the National Congress of Midwives and received the "Nuk" Prize.