Because they sometimes make both you and your baby sleepy, they are used mainly during early labor. These medications are local anesthetics. They provide a numbness or loss of sensation in a small area. Local anesthesia is often used to ease the pain of delivery or when an episiotomy incision is done to assist the delivery. It does not, however, lessen the pain of contractions.
Regional blocks refer to epidural and spinal blocks.
They are administered in the lower back, usually by a specialist physician called an anesthesiologist. Epidural analgesia may be used for labor and vaginal delivery. An epidural block may be used to provide anesthesia for a cesarean section. A spinal block may be used to provide labor analgesia or anesthesia for a cesarean delivery. The epidural block decreases sensation in the lower areas of your body, yet you remain conscious.