Jan
I
would have thought that this statement was completely inappropriate as a
"fact sheet" about epidurals, as it has no discussion of what an epidural is,
how it works or its benefits when indicated to counterbalance the risks
mentioned. Clearly using this statement as a "fact sheet" takes the presented
information totally out of context. It would appear that this statement is an
argument from the college of anaesthetists to the health funders (HFA) about the
need for an obstetrician to be involved in the care of a NZ woman who has a
midwife as her sole carer and requests epidural. I would have thought this a
reasonable position, and that once an epidural is used, a labour is no longer
"normal" and would be outside the scope of midwife-only
care.
David
