UK doctors told to try and talk women giving birth out of having epidurals to save NHS money

Daily Mail (UK) | 04:38 EST, 31 August 2012 | By Sophie Borland

[DeaconBenjamin]

Family doctors are being told to try to talk women out of having Caesareans and very strong painkillers during birth to save the NHS money.

New guidelines drawn up for GPs urge them to encourage women to have natural labours with as little medical help as possible.

But for many women the prospect of giving birth without the painkillers is unthinkable.

And critics have said the move has been made without any thought for the women themselves.

The guidelines also remind doctors to tell women to consider having their babies outside hospital in midwife-run units or in their own homes.

Caesareans cost the NHS around £1,200 a time while epidurals – anaesthetic injections into the spine – are around £200.

The guidelines state that, as well as being expensive, they both slow down a mother’s recovery after labour and impede breastfeeding.

The advice does not suggest women should not be given any painkillers, such as gas and air which are commonly used.

However, it specifically tells doctors to try to reduce the numbers given epidurals and other anaesthetic injections into the spine.

The advice – drawn up by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and the National Childbirth Trust – has enraged campaigners and some senior doctors.

Felicity Plaat, consultant anaesthetist at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, London, said: ‘In the 21st century, where the resources are available, it’s unacceptable and unethical to withhold effective pain relief from women who require it.

‘Furthermore, only the woman in pain can decide whether and what analgesia, or pain relief, she needs.’

[ctdonath2]

The point where my wife asked for the epidural would have been a very, VERY bad time to try talking her out of it.