Or you may still have bad memories from your last delivery. Epidural anaesthesia is a safe way of relieving the pain of childbirth without in any way harming you or the baby. Epidural anaesthesia works by depositing local anaesthetic drugs in the path of large nerves as they enter and leave the spinal cord. This occurs in an area just outside of the spinal cord called the epidural space . Local anaesthetics have this effect whenever they encounter nerves.
Nerves entering and leaving the spinal cord pass through the epidural space.
These nerves are responsible for transmitting information about touch, temperature and pain to the spinal cord and thereafter to the brain. Local anaesthetic deposited in the epidural space moves up, down and around and is able to coat many large nerves to the legs, pelvis and abdomen. The epidural space is an area immediately outside of a protective sac, which contains the spinal cord. The spinal cord ends at the same level as the tip of your tailbone. Below this the spinal nerves to the lower abdomen and legs descend in this sac for a distance before leaving.