Almost half of women opt for an epidural giving birth

Almost half of women giving birth in Ireland use epidural pain relief, according to a new global study which reveals that fear, lack of support, and hospital staffing can have greater influence on the use of the injected analgesic than a woman’s level of discomfort.

Increasing epidural rates globally are influenced by “industrialised” maternity systems which are failing to give women adequate support, according to Dr Elizabeth Newnham, Ussher assistant professor in Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin and co-author of Towards the Humanisation of Birth: A study of epidural analgesia and hospital birth culture.

Drawing on research conducted by authors in Australia, which involved observations of care delivered in a maternity hospital as well as interviews with 16 women over the course of their pregnancies, the study explores the personal, social, cultural and institutional influences on women in deciding whether or not to use pain relief in labour.