Snow — at Christmas

de Costa, Caroline M

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01481.x

Topics

Christmas this year will be marked for us by the arrival of our first grandchild, so as a mother and obstetrician I am receiving a steady stream of questions from my daughter on pregnancy-related matters — not the least of which relate to the use of analgesia in labour. At her antenatal classes, the advice has been to draw up a birth plan: warm baths, movement, partner support, and later, possibly, reluctantly, epidural ... But if I do want an epidural, she asks, will it be available even at Christmas?

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, James Cook University School of Medicine, Cairns Campus, Cairns, QLD.

Correspondence: caroline.decosta@jcu.edu.au

Competing interests:

None identified.

1. Benson AC, Viscount Esher, editors. The letters of Queen Victoria. Volume 1 (1837-1843). A selection from Her Majesty’s correspondence between the years 1837 and 1861. London: John Murray, 1908: 255, 480.
2. Fulford R, editor. Dearest child – letters between Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal, 1858-1861. London: Evans Bros, 1964: 115, 160.
3. Fulford R, editor. Your dear letter – private correspondence of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, 1865-1871. London: Evans Bros, 1971: 18.
4. The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. History of anaesthesia. http://www.aagbi.org/heritage/history.htm (accessed Sep 2007).
5. Caton D. John Snow’s practice of obstetric anesthesia. Anesthesiology 2000; 92: 247-252.
6. Frerichs RR. John Snow – a historical giant in epidemiology [website]. Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles. http:// www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow.html (accessed Sep 2007).
7. Snow J. On the inhalation of the vapour of ether in surgical operations. London: John Churchill, 1847.
8. Snow J. On chloroform and other anaesthetics, and their action and administration. London: John Churchill, 1858.
9. Chavasse PH. Advice to a wife on the management of her own health. London: Churchill, 1877: 225-226.
10. Administration of chloroform to the Queen [editorial]. Lancet 1853; i: 453.
11. Munro Kerr JM, Johnstone RW, Phillips MH, editors. Historical review of British obstetrics and gynaecology 1800-1950. London: Livingstone, 1954: 126-128.
12. Caton D. What a blessing she had chloroform: the medical and social response to the pain of childbirth from 1800 to the present. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1999.
13. Tracy SK, Sullivan E, Wang YA, et al. Birth outcomes associated with interventions in labour amongst low risk women: a population-based study. Women Birth 2007; 20: 41-48.
14. Dickinson JE, Paech MJ, McDonald SJ, Evans SF. Maternal satisfaction with childbirth and intrapartum analgesia in nulliparous labour. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2003; 43: 463-468.
15. McLachlan H, Waldenström U. Childbirth experiences in Australia of women born in Turkey, Vietnam, and Australia. Birth 2005; 32: 272-282.
16. Melbourne Midwifery. Stories. Pain in childbirth. http://www.melbmidwifery.com.au/story4.htm (accessed Sep 2007).
17. Rubin R. Epidurals, laughing gas help manage labor pain. USA Today 2003; 24 Feb.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.