A survey of epidural analgesia for labour in the United Kingdom

A postal survey of obstetric units throughout the UK was conducted to obtain information about the provision of epidural analgesia for labour. Ninety per cent of units offered a 24‐h epidural service and the average epidural rate was 24%. The most commonly administered epidural test dose was 3 ml of bupivacaine 0.5% and bupivacaine 0.25% was most often used as the initial epidural top‐up. Continuous infusions of low‐dose bupivacaine and opioid mixtures were the most popular method of maintenance epidural analgesia. Twenty‐four per cent of units offered combined spinal–epidural analgesia in addition to standard epidural analgesia. Midwives played a prominent role in the administration of epidural bolus top‐ups and also in the assessment and maintenance of continuous epidural infusions.

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