MN have recently (well it might not be recent actually, I might have only just noticed it!) put together a page listing some forms of natural pain relief for labour - here. I am hoping to have as natural a labour as possible, so I was pleased to find advice about this. However, I was a bit suprised to find a section on homeopathic pain relief. There is no scientific evidence that homeopathy has any effect beyond that of a placebo. I sent MNHQ an email about this and suggested that they either removed the section or put in a disclaimer, which they did (note the star at the bottom of the page).
But should there even be a section about homeopathy, which MN appears to be recommending as a sensible form of pain relief? It may be that for some women during labour, all they need is a placebo to make them think that their pain is reduced. Some people I know are big fans of homeopathy, and I have nothing against them using it as much as they like. But is it right for a website like MN to recommend it to women?
This is an interesting article about homeopathy written by Ben Goldacre
(author of Bad Science). Particularly interesting is the paragraph at the bottom detailing what homeopathic remedies actually contain.