Published on: 23 July 2021

ELHT has been offering Remifentanil Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA) for people in labour for over four years, an ultra-short-acting pain killer that goes into a designated drip, controlled by the person in labour as and when they need the pain relief. A total of 102 people, over half of them first time mothers, have benefitted from using Remifentanil PCA.

Remifentanil works within 30 seconds, disappears from the body within three to five minutes, and is completely safe for the baby in the womb. It provides a good alternative to epidural pain relief, and over half of those who used it chose it instead of an epidural. One of these people was Zoe Tregay, who was keen to avoid an epidural during labour with her son Ralph, following a negative experience during her first labour.

“I thought Remifentanil PCA was brilliant”, said Zoe, “as other pain relief options like gas and air weren’t working for me. I would recommend it to anyone – it was just as effective as an epidural and I was much happier using it.”

93.8% of those who used Remifentanil stated that it was an excellent or a good pain relief for labour, including Avril Johnson, who described it as a “game changer”.

“I had a long labour with my daughter Erin, it was 36 hours. Other pain relief wasn’t effective for me at all, and the strength of the Remifentanil PCA gave me the chance rest in between contractions. It made a world of difference.”

The majority of those who used Remifentanil PCA, 96.3%, said they would recommend it to others, such as Khadeeja Rahman, who has advised her sister to accept the drug if she was to be offered it during labour. “My daughter Ariya was born after a 15-hour, very painful labour. Remifentanil PCA got me through the experience and I didn’t have any negative side effects which was great.”

“Offering Remifentanil PCA is an example of we put our values of safe, personal and effective care into action for our patients”, said Dr Jason Lie, Consultant Anaesthetist and Remifentanil PCA for Labour Lead.

“We want to empower our patients to make choices about their care where possible, and adding Remifentanil PCA to our options for pain relief gives people in labour an additional choice that may suit them better than the other methods available.

“97.5% of our patients who used Remifentanil PCA during labour said they were very satisfied or satisfied with their experience with it, and 95.1% would use it again in labour in the future, so it’s safe to say the rollout of the drug has been successful.

“We will continue to innovate and provide new options for expectant parents during their antenatal, labour and post-natal journey, to ensure we are providing the best care we can for our patients.”