Labor, delivery, postpartum

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Obstetric analgesia and anesthesia

Armenia

• Anesthesiology
  • Establishing Obstetric Anesthesiology Practice Guidelines in the Republic of Armenia: A Global Health Collaboration [2017]

Australia

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • General anaesthetic for women giving birth by caesarean section

• Queensland Health
  • Intrapartum pain management

• SA Health
  • Post Dural Puncture Headache
  • Local Anaesthetic Toxicity (severe)
  • Analgesia for Labour and Birth (Pharmacological)

Australia, New Zealand

• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
  • Joint RANZCOG/ANZCA/RACGP Position Statement on the Provision of Obstetric Anaesthesia and Analgesia Services [2022]

Canada

• Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
  • Anaesthetic Agents in Pregnant Women Undergoing Non-Obstetric Surgical or Endoscopic Procedures: A Review of the Safety and Guidelines [2015]

• Canadian Family Physician
  • Consensus statement on networks for high-quality rural anesthesia, surgery, and obstetric care in Canada [2022]

• Perinatal Services BC
  • Pharmacological Pain Management Options in Labour
  • Non-Pharmacological Pain Management Options in Labour
  • Anesthetic Complications

• Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
  • Physiologic Basis of Pain in Labour and Delivery: An Evidence-Based Approach to its Management [2018]

China

• BMC Medicine
  • The trends and associated adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes of labour neuraxial analgesia among vaginal deliveries in China between 2012 and 2019: a real-world observational evidence [2021]

• Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  • Analyzing the Study of Using Acupuncture in Delivery in the Past Ten Years in China [2014]

Denmark

• Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
  • Postoperative pain management for caesarean section in Denmark: A survey of current clinical practice [2025]

• International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia
  • Incidence of persistent postpartum opioid use by mode of delivery: a 2016 cohort study of Danish women [2022]

East Africa

• Anesthesia & Analgesia
  • Challenges of Anesthesia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Access to Safe Obstetric Anesthesia in East Africa [2017]

Ethiopia

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Utilization of nonpharmacological labor pain management and associated factors among healthcare providers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2025]

• Women's Health
  • Predictors of labor pain management among pregnant women in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]

Europe

• European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care
  • ESAIC focused guidelines for the management of the failing epidural during labour epidural analgesia [2025]

• European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy
  • PROSPECT guideline for elective caesarean section: an update [2023]
  • PROSPECT guideline for elective caesarean section: updated systematic review and procedure-specific postoperative pain management recommendations [2021]

Finland

• Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics
  • Influence of smoking and socioeconomic status on labor analgesia: a nationwide register-based study in Finland [2024]

Hong Kong

• Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists
  • Guidelines for the Conduct of Neuraxial Analgesia in Obstetrics [2017]

Iceland

• Birth
  • Use of pain management in childbirth among migrant women in Iceland: A population-based cohort study [2022]

India

• Indian Journal of Anaesthesia
  • All India Difficult Airway Association 2016 guidelines for the management of unanticipated difficult tracheal intubation in obstetrics [2016]

International

• Anaesthesia
  • International consensus statement on the management of hypotension with vasopressors during caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia [2018]

• Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
  • The Effect of Intrathecal Meperidine on Maternal and Newborn Outcomes After Cesarean Section: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study [2020]

• Annals of Medicine and Surgery
  • Prevention and management of postoperative nausea and vomiting after cesarean section: A systematic literature review [2022]

• Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology
  • Neuraxial analgesia in labour and the foetus [2023]

• BioMed Research International
  • Analgesia during Labor and Vaginal Birth among Women with Severe Maternal Morbidity: Secondary Analysis from the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health [2019]

• BMC Anesthesiology
  • Comparative efficacy and safety of local anesthesia combinations for labor pain relief: a network meta-analysis [2025]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Prevalence and associated factors of intraoperative Nausea and Vomiting of mothers who gave birth with cesarean section under regional anesthesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis; 2023 [2025]
  • Pharmacological pain relief and women´s birth experience: a systematic review [2025]

• BMJ Open
  • Appraisal of clinical practice guidelines and consensus statements on obstetric anaesthesia: a systematic review using the AGREE II instrument [2024]

• British Journal of Anaesthesia
  • Commonly used antiemetics for prophylaxis of postoperative nausea and vomiting after Caesarean delivery with neuraxial morphine: a network meta-analysis [2024]
  • Interventions for the prevention or treatment of epidural-related maternal fever: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2022]
  • Vasopressor drugs for the prevention and treatment of hypotension during neuraxial anaesthesia for Caesarean delivery: a Bayesian network meta-analysis of fetal and maternal outcomes [2020]

• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
  • Automated mandatory bolus versus basal infusion for maintenance of epidural analgesia in labour [2023]
  • Interventions for preventing nausea and vomiting in women undergoing regional anaesthesia for caesarean section [2021]
  • Techniques for preventing hypotension during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section [2020]
  • Relief of pain due to uterine cramping/involution after birth [2020]
  • Complementary and alternative therapies for post-caesarean pain [2020]
  • Acupuncture or acupressure for pain management during labour [2020]

• European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
  • Pharmacogenetics of opioid medications for relief of labor pain and post-cesarean pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2025]

• International Journal of Nursing Studies
  • Maternal outcomes using delayed pushing versus immediate pushing in the second stage of labour: An umbrella review [2024]

• Journal of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Critical Care
  • Technical aspects of neuraxial analgesia during labor and maternity care: an updated overview [2025]

• Journal of Clinical Medicine
  • Following Evidence-Based Recommendations for Perioperative Pain Management after Cesarean Section Is Associated with Better Pain-Related Outcomes: Analysis of Registry Data [2023]

• Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
  • Effects of epidural analgesia on intrapartum maternal fever and maternal outcomes: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]

• PLoS ONE
  • Comparative efficacy of opioid and non-opioid analgesics in labor pain management: A network meta-analysis [2024]
  • The efficacy and safety of remifentanil patient-controlled versus epidural analgesia in labor: A meta-analysis and systematic review [2022]

Israel

• Israel Medical Association Journal
  • National Survey of Postoperative Pain Control after Cesarean Delivery [2014]

Japan

• International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • Updated Decision Aid Enabling Women to Choose between with or without Epidural Analgesia during Childbirth, and Confirmation of Validity [2023]

• Journal of Clinical Medicine
  • Current Epidemiology of the General Anesthesia Practice for Cesarean Delivery Using a Nationwide Claims Database in Japan: A Descriptive Study [2022]

• Scientific Reports
  • Trend in neuraxial morphine use and postoperative analgesia after cesarean delivery in Japan from 2005 to 2020 [2022]

Low and middle income countries

• Scientific Reports
  • Outcomes associated with anaesthetic techniques for caesarean section in low- and middle-income countries: a secondary analysis of WHO surveys [2020]

Malaysia

• Ministry of Health Malaysia
  • Pain management in obstetrics and gynaecology [2023]

Norway

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • The provision of epidural analgesia during labor according to maternal birthplace: a Norwegian register study [2020]

Oman

• Ministry of Health Oman
  • Pain management in labor

Poland

• Anaesthesiology Intensive Therapy
  • Advocating for universal access to epidural analgesia for women during childbirth: a scientific review Polish National Social Campaign "Hear the voice of pain" [2025]

Republic of Korea

• Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
  • Evaluation of changes in anesthetic methods for cesarean delivery: an analysis for 5 years using the big data of the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service [2020]

South-East Asia

• Journal of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Critical Care
  • Consensus on the Southeast Asian management of hypotension using vasopressors and adjunct modalities during cesarean section under spinal anesthesia [2022]

Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists
  • Guideline on pain relief in labour [2014]

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Pain Management Nursing
  • Healthcare Providers' Utilization of Nonpharmacological Methods in Managing Labor Pain: An Integrative Review [2024]

Sweden

• Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
  • A nation-wide Swedish study of opioid analgesic prescribing patterns during pregnancy and associated preexisting mental health conditions [2022]

Uganda

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Key bottlenecks to the provision of safe obstetric anaesthesia in low- income countries; a cross-sectional survey of 64 hospitals in Uganda [2017]

United Kingdom

• Anaesthesia
  • A national survey of obstetric early warning systems in the United Kingdom: five years on [2014]

• Association of Anaesthetists
  • Safety guideline: neurological monitoring associated with obstetric neuraxial block 2020: A joint guideline by the Association of Anaesthetists and the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association [2020]
  • Association of Anaesthetists recommendations for cell salvage in obstetric anaesthesia [2018]
  • Regional anaesthesia and patients with abnormalities of coagulation: the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland The Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association Regional Anaesthesia UK [2013]

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
  • Opioids for pain relief after caesarean birth [2021]
  • Monitoring after intrathecal or epidural opioids for caesarean birth [2021]

• Obstetric Anaesthetists Association
  • Intrathecal catheter placement after inadvertent dural puncture in the obstetric population: management for labour and operative delivery. Guidelines from the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association [2024]
  • The delivery of obstetric anaesthetic care in UK maternity units: a survey of practice in 2021 [2023]
  • Prevention and management of intra-operative pain during caesarean section under neuraxial anaesthesia: a technical and interpersonal approach [2022]
  • General anaesthetic and airway management practice for obstetric surgery in England: a prospective, multicentre observational study [2021]
  • The identification of key indicators to drive quality improvement in obstetric anaesthesia: results of the Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association/National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit collaborative Delphi project [2020]
  • Obstetric anaesthetic practice in the UK: a descriptive analysis of the National Obstetric Anaesthetic Database 2009–14 [2020]
  • Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association/National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit collaborative project to develop key indicators for quality of care in obstetric anaesthesia: first steps in the right direction [2020]
  • Labor Epidural Analgesia to Cesarean Section Anesthetic Conversion Failure: A National Survey [2019]
  • Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association and Difficult Airway Society guidelines for the management of difficult and failed tracheal intubation in obstetrics [2015]
  • Publications

• Royal College of Anaesthetists
  • Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for an Obstetric Population 2024 [2023]
  • Obstetric practice [2020]

• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
  • Antenatal and Postnatal Analgesia [2018]

United States

• Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
  • ABM Clinical Protocol #28, Peripartum Analgesia and Anesthesia for the Breastfeeding Mother [2018]

• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
  • Obstetric Anesthesiology Supplemental Guide [2022]

• American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
  • Analgesia and Anesthesia for the Obstetric Patient [2023]

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
  • Use of Nitrous Oxide in Labor and Possible Interaction with Systemic Opioids or Sedatives/Hypnotics [2021]
  • Pharmacologic Stepwise Multimodal Approach for Postpartum Pain Management [2021]
  • Obstetrical analgesia

• American Society of Anesthesiologists
  • Statement on Pain During Cesarean Delivery [2023]
  • Statement on Quality Metrics [2022]
  • Guidelines for Neuraxial Analgesia or Anesthesia in Obstetrics [2021]
  • Practice Guidelines for Obstetric Anesthesia: An Updated Report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Obstetric Anesthesia and the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology [2016]

• Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
  • Role of the Registered Nurse in the Care of the Pregnant Woman Receiving Analgesia and Anesthesia by Catheter Techniques [2020]

• BMJ
  • Association of first trimester prescription opioid use with congenital malformations in the offspring: population based cohort study [2021]

• Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie
  • Racial and ethnic disparities in obstetric anesthesia: a scoping review [2023]
  • A survey of labour epidural practices at obstetric anesthesia fellowship programs in the United States [2022]

• International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia
  • Persistent opioid use after cesarean delivery in the United States of America: a systematic review [2023]

• Medicina
  • Anesthetic Management of the Pregnant Patient Undergoing Non-Obstetric Surgery [2025]

• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  • Optimizing Opioid Prescription Quantity After Cesarean Delivery: A Randomized Controlled Trial [2024]

• Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Consult Series #59: The use of analgesia and anesthesia for maternal-fetal procedures [2021]

• Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology
  • Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology: Consensus Statement and Recommendations for Enhanced Recovery After Cesarean [2021]
  • Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology Consensus Statement: Monitoring Recommendations for Prevention and Detection of Respiratory Depression Associated With Administration of Neuraxial Morphine for Cesarean Delivery Analgesia [2019]
  • Consensus Statements and Practice Advisories

{Related topics}

• Topic
  • Labor, delivery, childbirth
  • Cesarean section