Nitrous Oxide

twss2323 · Mar 15, 2016

Have you done any research? When I was in school I listened to an EBP presentation about it, it's really interesting!

OBwonKnewbie · Mar 15, 2016

Not yet, I am actually still at work now. I guess there are not many hospitals in the US that do, so I thought it would be interesting to reach out and see. If anyone else knows about it

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2016

I haven't come across this in the US, though like you, I'm aware that using Nitrous in Europe is common practice. That is so cool that your hospital is going to start using this. I really wish we had an alternative here to epidurals and IV pain meds!

The IV pain meds we usually give in my neck of the woods are nubain or sometimes fentanyl. In my experience, however, usually women in the active stage of labor don't report any real relief with IV pain meds and instead value them for their relaxing/sleep-inducing qualities vs. pain relief.

SnowShoeRN · Mar 17, 2016

I know that it is starting to be used in western MA among some CNM's. I applied to precept with a group of midwives who brought it to that area, but I don't believe it's very wide-spread yet. From what I can tell, it's in pockets here and there. Here's hoping it becomes more common practice though. I don't work LD, but It seems like a phenomenal method of pain relief.

Alikatz08 · Mar 17, 2016

I wish they brought Nitrous Oxide to my area, but alas, doesn't look like it will appear anytime soon at my facility. Here besides epidurals, my unit uses Stadol. However, it doesn't work well after a 2nd or 3rd dose. At my previous job, it was Nubain. I think Nitrous Oxide would be a great alternative over epidurals and other meds. I wonder how happy anesthesia would be once their epidural rates go down...

Julesmama28 · Mar 17, 2016

We are opening a new unit and are super stoked to have it available to our laboring moms. We haven't started yet, so I'll have to let you know how it goes!

klone, MSN, RN · Mar 17, 2016

There are a couple hospitals here in Denver that use it.

OBwonKnewbie · Mar 17, 2016

Thanks for the responses! A couple nurses have had patients with it so far and they really like it and feel it has been effective. Our IV meds are demerol and phenergan, which I'm not a fan of at all. I was just curious about other facilities methods of pain relief

irishicugal · Mar 17, 2016

In ireland, our pain relief, in ascending order, is paracetamol, nitrous oxide (gas and air lol), im pethidine, epidural. Iv's are rarely sited in labour, only if an epidural is being used, it's high risk, or syntocin is needed. I was induced twice and still didn't have an IV! Midwives conduct delivery and delivering on your back is NOT encouraged, but obviously you can only deliver in this position if you've had an epidural. There are birthing balls and lots of gravity assisting positions used instead. It's also not a "sterile" procedure, yes sterile gloves are used, but not the large surgical drapes etc that you see in the us. "Gas and air" can make some women vomit, but many love it and it is the most frequently used analgesia for labouring women. If the nitrous isn't working, you can always progress to an epidural if you want it!

OBwonKnewbie · Mar 17, 2016

In ireland, our pain relief, in ascending order, is paracetamol, nitrous oxide (gas and air lol), im pethidine, epidural. Iv's are rarely sited in labour, only if an epidural is being used, it's high risk, or syntocin is needed. I was induced twice and still didn't have an IV! Midwives conduct delivery and delivering on your back is NOT encouraged, but obviously you can only deliver in this position if you've had an epidural. There are birthing balls and lots of gravity assisting positions used instead. It's also not a "sterile" procedure, yes sterile gloves are used, but not the large surgical drapes etc that you see in the us. "Gas and air" can make some women vomit, but many love it and it is the most frequently used analgesia for labouring women. If the nitrous isn't working, you can always progress to an epidural if you want it!

So interesting, thank you for that information! We give epidurals so much that almost all of our patients delivery on their backs. It's a pet peeve of mine

Alikatz08 · Mar 17, 2016

So interesting, thank you for that information! We give epidurals so much that almost all of our patients delivery on their backs. It's a pet peeve of mine

Same with the big teaching hospital I work at! So unnatural and huge pet peeve of mine too!!!