Do any U.S.A Labour and Delivery wards have Entanox available for Pain relief?

I have always been told that it is a safety issue for health care providers. Without ventilation they would be inhaling it as well. I don't know how true this is or how the providers in England are able to deliver babies "under the influence" if that is the case Sounds like a lame excuse to me, but the only one I have heard.

I practice in Canada and we use nitronox about 75% of the time at our facility. The patient either LOVES it, or throws the mask at their significant other! haha. Our Nitronox tanks are mixed with O2 to activate the Nitronox and they are also attached to the wall suction to take away the excess gas. Also, only when the patient breathes does the tank expel the Nitronox! None of us are "drunk" from the stuff when we deliver, or at least I don't think we are...

Sometimes I wonder about myself and we don't even have entanox

Thanks for the info-- like I said I had been told that it free flows the way O2 does and it's a ventilation issue. Evidently the person/place I read that (can't remember) didn't know what they were talking about.

I asked an anesthesiologist about this the other day (granted, she is a bit of a wild card) b/c I was also curious. She says that if they do start using it, she will refuse to work in LD units. Apparently, frequent exposure to N.O. results in suppression of your immune system and various other things (I forget everything she said, it was a rather large tangent on her part, lol). She claims they have done studies and even with good ventilation and proper fitting masks, there is still a good deal of it in the air, actually not even JUST in the room it is being used, but through the entire unit. So, the risk isn't to mom or baby...who will only have a short exposure, but to the health care workers who are exposed to it daily.

I have seen this used overseas. I thought it was a great option for women and was surprised they did not have in in the US. Although I have heard of some places in California that use it. I suppose if I were an anesthesiologist I would want this to be readily available as well.

As far as the safety of healthcare providers, this website gave good information

http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog...oxide-for-labo