Labor pain is one of the most severe pains. Labor is a complex and individual process with varying maternal requesting analgesia. Labor analgesia must be safe and accompanied by minimal amount of unwanted consequences for both the mother and the child, as well as for the delivery procedure. Epidural analgesia is the treatment that best meets these demands. According to the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology and American Society of Anesthesiologists, mother’s demand is a reason enough for the introduction of epidural analgesia in labor, providing that no contraindications exist. The application of analgesics should not cease at the end of the second stage of labor, but it is recommended that lower concentration analgesics be then applied. Based on the latest studies, it can be claimed that epidural analgesia can be applied during the major part of the first and second stage of labor. According to previous investigations, there is no definitive conclusion about the incidence of instrumental delivery, duration of second stage of labor, time of epidural analgesia initiation, and long term outcomes for the newborn. Cooperation of obstetric and anesthesiology personnel, as well as appropriate technical equipment significantly decrease the need of instrumental completion of a delivery, as well as other complications encountered in the application of epidural analgesia. Our hospital offers 24/7 epidural analgesia service. The majority of pregnant women in our hospital were aware of the advantages of epidural analgesia for labor, however, only a small proportion of them used it, mainly because of inadequate level of information.

Bol kod porođaja smatra se jednom od najjačih boli. Porođaj je složen i individualan proces s različitim željama žena za analgezijom. Analgezija u porođaju mora biti sigurna i s minimalnim neželjenim posljedicama za majku, dijete i za tijek porođaja. Tim uvjetima najbolje udovoljava epiduralna analgezija (EA). Prema American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology i American Society of Anesthesiologists za primjenu EA u porođaju dovoljna je želja rodilje ako ne postoji kontraindikacija. Davanje analgetika ne treba prestati na kraju drugog porođajnog doba, ali se tada preporučuju niske koncentracije lokalnog anestetika te dodavanje adjuvansa. Novije studije ukazuju na to da se EA može primijeniti u najvećem dijelu prvog i drugog porođajnog doba. Bez obzira na dosadašnja iskustva i istraživanja ne postoji slaganje oko učestalosti instrumentalnog dovršenja porođaja, trajanja drugog porođajnog doba uz EA i vremena uvođenja EA te dugoročnog utjecaja na dijete. Dobra suradnja opstetričkog i anesteziološkog osoblja i dobra tehnička opremljenost znatno smanjuju potrebu za instrumentalnim dovršenjem porođaja, kao i druge komplikacije EA. Naša bolnica nudi EA za olakšani porođaj tijekom 24 sata. Većina trudnica je svjesna prednosti primjene EA za vaginalni porođaj, međutim, samo mali broj trudnica iskoristi tu mogućnost, uglavnom zbog nedovoljne obaviještenosti o toj metodi.