An integrated pain relief service for labour: co‐operation between obstetricians, anaesthetists and midwives
Epidural injections were performed by obstetricians on 1012 patients in a pain relief service in which there was clinical co‐operation between anaesthetists and obstetricians. A consultant anaesthetist collaborated in the training of staff providing the service. Midwives maintained the epidural analgesia with top‐up doses as part of their traditional role in providing pain relief in labour. Eighty‐eight per cent of patients were fully satisfied, 10‰ were helped and 2‰ had failed epidurals. The forceps rate was 30‰ and the dural tap rate 1.4‰ Junior obstetric staff in training grades can with adequate safeguards make a significant contribution to running an obstetric epidural service. Copyright © 1980, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved