How does methadone affect childbirth pain?

Methadone vs. pain: Although Methadone is a painkiller, your body becomes accustomed to its pain-relieving qualities. This means that you will feel pain just like any women who has never taken methadone. During labor and delivery, you should have the same choices for pain relief available to any patient - possibly including opioid pain medications. Discuss this with your doctor.

Worse: Patients on chronic opioids are at risk of more severe pain that is more difficult to control with acute noxious stimulus like labor. In essence, up to 4-6x as much opioid as normal might be necessary to control pain and often this makes a patient very sedated, with less pain relief than expected. Taper as much as possible prior to labor or surgery.