Options for pain control during delivery include:
- Epidural anesthesia:
- Medications is injected into the lower spinal column. This makes you completely numb from the groin, down, but does not affect the delivery.
- General anesthesia:
- You are completely asleep for the delivery; this is more common for Cesarean sections.
- Natural childbirth:
- No pain medications are given. Instead, alternate methods are used to control pain. These may include distraction, massage, visual imagery techniques, meditation, and controlled breathing.
- Pain medication by injection:
- Medication administered as an injection into muscle, or into a vein through an intravenous line (IV).
- Paracervical block:
- Injection of anesthetic medication into the cervix, in order to reduce the pain associated with cervical dilation.
- Pudendal block:
- Injection of anesthetic that numbs the nerves between the vagina and the rectum.
