When Jennifer Bryan showed up at the hospital to deliver her second child, she was in a considerable amount of pain, more than she had experienced with her first child, but not enough to request an epidural.
Desperate for relief, Jennifer asked for nitrous oxide, more commonly known as “laughing gas.” Being a labor and delivery nurse at the Pavilion for Women, she knew the hospital had just started offering the gas as a pain reliever for labor pain and was curious if it worked.
To her pleasant surprise, it did! About five minutes after inhaling the mixture of nitrous and oxygen through a face mask, Jennifer stopped feeling the pain of her contractions.
“It gave me some breathing room to decide whether to get an epidural or try to have natural child birth,” Jennifer said. “I would definitely do it again and am happy to be able to offer it to our patients.”
The Pavilion for Women started offering nitrous oxide for labor pain in October. The gas is administered via mask about 30 seconds before a contraction begins and is continuously breathed in until the contraction ends. Starting before a contraction begins helps the gas reach its full effect as the contraction reaches its peak.
No extra monitoring is required and there are no known effects on the baby. Nitrous oxide is the only pain relief method for labor that is cleared from the body through the lungs. As soon as a patient pulls the mask off, the effects of nitrous oxide quickly diminish.
“It’s fast acting and it’s fast to wear off,” said Kristin Thorp, assistant clinical director of nursing for the inpatient portion of the Women’s Assessment Center. “It’s a viable option for pain relief and women love it. It’s the No. 1 requested method of pain relief for labor pain.”
Since offering the new pain relief option several women have received it and many soon-to-be moms have inquired about it. Labor and delivery clinicians believe both of those numbers will continue to rise.
“All of my patients have responded positively when they’ve heard we are offering nitrous oxide for labor pain,” said Dr. Jennifer Bump, assistant director of Quality and Patient Safety for Obstetrics at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. “I think it’s an excellent option for our patients who want short-term relief and am happy to have the opportunity to offer it.”
Women can use nitrous oxide as an alternative to other pain management options, or they can use it for the reason Jennifer did, as a way to buy time while deciding to have natural child birth, have an epidural or have intravenous narcotics. Nitrous oxide cannot be used with intravenous narcotics. It also cannot be used by women who:
- Cannot hold their own facemask
- Have received a dose of narcotics in the past two hours
- Have pernicious anemia or a B12 deficiency and are taking B12 supplements
- Have one of a very few other rare medical conditions
Other situations in which nitrous oxide can be used and will be offered at the Pavilion for Women include external versions, IV starts, placement of cervical ripening balloons, manual removal of placenta and lacerations repair.