One factor distinguishing obstetric anesthesia from other subspecialties is that it has always had to fight for its existence.
Nobody debates whether analgesia is desirable for chronic pain states or acute postoperative pain.
Yet even as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the administration of the first obstetric anesthetic by James Young Simpson, M.D., the administration of analgesia for labor remains controversial. The eminent obstetricians who opposed Dr. Simpson claimed that pain was an essential part of labor and that its abolition would inevitably alter contractions and the outcome of labor. Obstetric analgesia eventually became accepted several years later when Queen Victoria received chloroform for the birth of her eighth and ninth children. Since that time, almost every anesthetic drug and technique has been used for childbirth and has provoked controversy. Fortunately, this misinformation has been dispelled.