General anaesthesia is commonly used in caesarean deliveries. Many pregnant women who come to Union Hospital OPT for this safe method of birth. The mother is given some oxygen and an injection to send her to sleep. The baby is then delivered through the mother's abdomen by the obstetrician. After the operation, the mother will wake up gradually.

Another method of anaesthesia also widely used for caesarean deliveries at Union Hospital is spinal anesthesia. An very fine needle is placed into the patient's lower back and anaesthetic drugs is then injected direct into the spinal space around the spine (not into the spinal cord). As the anaesthetic takes effect, the area from the stomach downwards goes numb. The obstetrician delivers the child when the mother is awake and pain-free. This allows the mother to hear the first cry of the baby. Where possible, the husband will stay in the Operating Theatre at the head of the table to calm his wife and alleviate her feelings of unease. Medical staff will know how to prevent the mother or husband from seeing blood or the wound during the operation. The mother and husband would enjoy the coming of their baby together.

To enable smooth childbirth and make the experience a sweet memory for mothers, analgesia is very effective in relieving labour pain. The Union Hospital Operative Theatre Committee has recruited a team of experienced anaesthetists. Attending obstetricians maintain close dialogue with the anaesthetists to ensure surgery quality and safety. In emergencies, the dedicated team provides round-the-clock anaesthesia services.

Entonox, a mixture of Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) and oxygen, is a very efficient analgesic used in obstetrics. It is simple to use. While the pregnant mother is holding a mask to her face and tight seal, the gas is inhaled when tightening of the uterus is felt. It takes only about half a minute to work. This method of anaesthesia is safe with no adverse effects to the mother or to the new born baby. The one-off mask is sterilized and individually wrapped.

The obstetrician usually prescribes an injection for use when the cervix is opening up. The injection is usually given only once. It is quite safe and usually does not have adverse effects on the baby. Some infants may be slightly slower in catching their first breaths. Dizziness and vomiting are among the side effects a pregnant mother may experience during the injection.

This is a very efficient method of minimizing the pain of childbirth after local freeaing. An anaesthetist introduces a very fine plastic tubing through a gap between the backbones and the anaesthetic is injected through the tube into the epidural space. This method gives satisfactory pain relief in at least 95% of all cases. A local anaesthetic may continuously administered through the tubing during the course of delivery as well. At the birth of the infant, the mother needs only follow the instructions of the doctor and nurse to push the baby out of the womb. Epidural analgesia only minimizes the pain of childbirth and does not increase or reduce the chance of caesarean section. It does not have any adverse effect on the the baby's health, while the mother feels numb in the abdomen and lower limbs. The numbness will go away a couple of hours after delivery .