Continuous caudal analgesia in obstetrics.

This film opens with a woman lying on a hospital bed in labour, using gas and air. The narrator explains pain in the first, second and third stages of labour. The nerve pathways are explained by the means of a diagram. Continuous caudal analgesia removes pain without effecting uterine activity. Equipment required for pain relief is laid out. A model of a pelvis (which may be from a human skeleton) is used to explain the siting of an injection. Various diagrams in colour are used, explaining poor siting (of the needle) and the consequences. A young woman is in labour and in pain. Her vagina is examined. The needle is sited and the catheter introduced. Labour progresses and the baby is delivered. The baby has to be delivered using forceps as the analgesia removes the sensation of bearing down. In this case the baby was in a posterior position and some manoeuvring of the baby occurs by the obstetrician. The woman is given an episiotomy and the baby born. The placenta is delivered and the perineum is repaired. The narrator underlies the clinical safety of this technique which has been practised over 4000 cases. The new mother with her baby smiles to the camera.