Patent ID: 7942818

Claim:
A maternal labor pain management system comprising: a) at least one analgesic pain management means; b) a system for administering the pain management means; and c) a system for analyzing uterine activity in the prediction of labor contractions to predict time of contraction onset relevant for use in coordinating the administration of the pain management means, wherein the system for analyzing uterine activity provides at least one signal regarding the predicted time of contraction onset and wherein the system for analyzing uterine activity is operably connected to the system for administering the pain management means, wherein the system for analyzing uterine activity comprises: i) at least two abdominal electrode sensors to receive a mixture of maternal and fetal vital signals; and ii) a computing means for analyzing the mixture of maternal and fetal vital signals from the sensors, said computing means including hardware and software, wherein said software comprises a function to extract EHG data from the maternal and fetal vital signals for use in determining the predicted time of contraction onset, and wherein the system for administering the pain management means is responsive to the signal regarding the predicted time of contraction onset to automatically initiate and cease the delivery of the analgesic pain management means.