title: Analgesia and anesthesia in labor.
abstract: Whether given as an epidural, spinal, or combination, regional anesthesia is an integral part of obstetrics in the United States. A variety of drugs and dosages are used in various combinations, with no one protocol exceeding others in terms of efficacy and safety. The availability of anesthesia and analgesia has had an extraordinary impact on the field of obstetrics in the twentieth century. Knowledge of the techniques and medications used, their potential toxicities, and effects on the labor process itself can only enhance obstetricians' management of the parturient in labor.
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins Hospital, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Phipps 214, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. jalthau1@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Janyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Althaus
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wax
mesh_terms: D016362:Analgesia, Obstetrical; D000773:Anesthesia, Obstetrical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D011247:Pregnancy