In today's podcast, we're going to talk about using IV opioids for pain management during labor and childbirth.

Welcome to the Evidence Space Birth Podcast.

Join us each week as I tackle the evidence on another hot topic about childbirth.

As a reminder, this information is not medical advice.

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Hi everyone welcome to this week's episode of the evidence-based birth

podcast my name is Rebecca Decker I'm your host I'm a nurse with my PhD and the

founder of evidence-based birth.com so we're continuing with our series on pain management during childbirth. We've

recently spent the past month talking about epidurals. Today I want to talk

about injectable opioids for pain management during labor in childbirth and next week we'll move on

to nitrous oxide or laughing gas and then we'll move on to non-drug methods of

achieving comfort during labor. So injectable opioids also called narcotics are drug

method or pharmacologic method for managing pain during labor. These drugs

are injected into a vein or a muscle and they are systemic, meaning they spread throughout your entire bodily systems to help with pain.

The purpose of this type of pain medication is to help reduce your pain without making you lose feeling in your body or

being unable to move.

In 2012 and the Listening to Mother's Survey, they found that about 16% of people in the US used injectable opioids during

labor. There are about five commonly used drugs in the United States for injectable

opioids during labor.

These include fentanyl, morphine, and several others.

However, outside the US, a drug called Petidine

is the most commonly used injectable opioid for labor.

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