Libby Copeland

Writer. Editor. Cultural Spelunker.

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Get This Woman Some Laughing Gas! Other countries use nitrous oxide in the delivery room. Why don’t we?

Libby Copeland May 19, 2011

Nitrous oxide has a lot going for it. It merely blunts pain, but it also lets a laboring woman walk, perch on a birthing ball, whatever. It’s comparatively cheap, and it’s fast-acting, offering relief in less than a minute. Perhaps most key from midwives’ point of view, it is easily administered by the laboring woman herself. She grabs the mask when she knows a contraction is coming. She stops as the contraction ends. In other words, she is empowered to manage her own pain.

Categories: Gender, Parenting, Pop Culture, Slate Tags: laughing gas, midwives, pregnancy

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