How can i minimize the pain of childbirth?

Several choices: For those who want to experience as little pain as possible, there are several choices. Non-medical options include hypnotherapy, guided imagery and visualization techniques, and massage. For those seeking medical interventions, the standard options include narcotic analgesia and epidural anesthesia. Narcotics (those in the morphine family) take the edge off pain at the level of the brain, making you care less about the pain, even though you still feel it. These neurological effects may leave you feeling sleepy, euphoric, or “out of it.” Epidural anesthesia doesn’t affect the brain’s pain centers in the same way, so you’re more likely to feel alert and awake. The epidural numbs the body from the waist down, making you feel pressure, but no- or little- pain, until the very end, when you may feel a bit of pain just as the baby comes out. If you’re very early in labor (less than 4 centimeters dilated), your doctor may encourage you to choose narcotic analgesia until your labor is more active, when you may choose an epidural. If you’re further along, such as 8 centimeters dilated, your doctor may discourage you from using narcotics, since they can depress the respiration of the newborn. In my experience, patients experience the best relief from pain when they combine non-medical pain management techniques with narcotics early in labor and then an epidural in active labor.