The National Referral Hospital in Thimphu will be reintroducing a medical technique which will allow a painless childbirth. Pregnant women will receive injection at the lower back through a technique called Epidural Labour Analgesia.
It is a local anesthetic injected to reduce the pain or sensation during delivery. The service is being started based on humanitarian, economic, and medical benefits.
Over 4,000 women gave birth at the National Referral Hospital in 2014.
“One of the main reasons is to reduce the pain during labour. It reduces the stress hormones. When somebody is in intense pain, our body mechanism releases lots of hormones. It brings about changes in maternal physiology, which is reflected in the maternal body and which is also reflected in the foetal body,” said the National Referral Hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr. Gosar Pemba.
Dr. Gosar said the only downside to this technique is some people can be allergic to it and cause blood pressure to fall.
The service was first started about seven years ago. But it was stopped after the only anesthesiologist resigned.
