NITROUS OXIDE FOR RELIEVING PAIN AT ACTIVE STAGE OF LABOR

Objective To study the efficacy of intermittent inhalation of nitrous oxide for relieving pain during birth process and its influence on mothers and fetus. Methods Three hundred lying-in women willing to accept labor analgesia were selected as Observation Group and another 300 served as the Control Group .The painful extent, labor duration, labor pattern, the volume of postpartum hemorrhage in the first two hours, fetal distress rate and fetal suffocation rate were compared between the two groups. Results The difference between the two groups was statistically significant in terms of efficacy of analgesia, the duration of active stage and total stages of labor, the rate of transvaginal delivery and fetal distress(χ 2=4.13-43.05, u=11.87, 13.75, P 0.01). No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of the volume of postpartum hemorrhage and Apgar score (u=1.88, χ 2=0.43, P0.05). No poor reaction was recorded in Observation Group. Conclusion Intermittent inhalation of nitrous oxide is an effective and safe way of analgesia for delivery, which is worth while to be recommended clinically.