Bans on Gas & Air!

[1stWorldProblems]

Saw this in the Sunday Times today but don't have a share token so here's the same story from the BBC Ban on Gas & Air. I'm not advocating dangerous working conditions for medical staff but felt parents should know that this is another thing that might not fit your birth plan - a number of hospitals have withdrawn gas & air as a pain relief option. As someone who depended it on for both my births, I think other parents should be aware of this change.

It was known back then that exposure to nitrous oxide caused fertility problems as well as miscarriage, so a double whammy for midwives, theatre nurses, dentists and anaesthetists. For decades.
Also neurological damage.
But, they are only female nhs staff, so not important.

Fortunately I’m not having anymore but if I did I would want either a c section or home birth now. I’m not suggesting putting staff at risk but the pain is just unbearable without gas and air.

Im not in the UK and when I gave birth to my dd I had no gas and air. It took 18 hours with induction and my epidural failed. Ended in vacuum extraction.
I don’t know how you can offer an induction without adequate pain relief. The pain is torture.

When I gave birth to my son I had gas and air and no induction. It took four hours and was a completely different experience. He weighed almost 10 lbs and the tear was severe - but gas and air.

You can’t induce women without proper pain relief. If I were in that position today, I would refuse to be induced and wouldn’t budge without a section.

I dont live in the uk. Gas and air was removed from our hoispitals about 16 years ago (at some point between child 1 and 2). Epidural are available under xertain circumstances. Its pretty much expected that you will accept the pain. With child 3 i was offered accupuncture.

The issue for me is the way women have been treated. A friend is 38 weeks and due to give birth at Peterborough, and found this out via a Facebook post on Friday night. Nobody has contacted women who are about to give birth individually. The comments on the post were full of scared women who are due soon, and the trust responded by turning the comments off! I agree with protecting the health of the staff but treating heavily pregnant women like this is not ok.

All pain relief can have an adverse effect it’s just down to personal experience. Gas & air did nothing for me personally. Pethadine made me vomit all over me and my bed. Epidural was great but when I came to have DD I couldn’t feel a thing, before I knew it I couldn’t push properly and ended up have an emergency c-section. I didn’t see DD until the following morning and was told it was unlikely she would survive. It all depends on the circumstances surrounding labour and our own personal reactions. SIL had no pain relief at all. Some will cope with nothing, others paracetamol and some will need a lot more!

I used gas and air for the first 5 hours of my labour and it was great I couldn’t of gone without it, I only had pefadin at just after 8pm and that too helped but could I of got through without gas and air probably not. I totally feel for the staff and I wish the nhs would find the appropriate way to ventilate and protect their staff while giving mums that option as there is no way id ever want the epidural.

Gas and air has always felt like a very gentle and less harmful pain relief compared to injections. So I thought this was the best go-to but it made me vomit immediately. For my next baby, the midwives kept asking me to use it to slow things (swelling?) and I told them it made me sick. The consultant came in and told me to. Within a few seconds I vomited over his shoes. They stopped asking me after that.
I am shocked that the negative effects on staff have been known so long.

No. But I think it’s awful that despite knowing (for decades!) that there were risks to staff of long term exposure, a lot of hospitals have not upgraded their ventilation/scavenger systems.

Quite a sad thought that the dangers have been known about for decades and nobody told the predominantly female staff/midwives. Maybe if more midwives were men something would have been done sooner. Instead staff have been putting their health at risk without knowing about the risk.

But yes I agree that nobody should have to labour without pain relief. Hopefully it can be resolved soon by use of scavenger units. Which have always been available but Trusts haven’t paid for them. I think this is going to be a huge class action lawsuit for nhs trusts.

Obviously we want the staff to be protected but I’m another who’d argue for decent ventilation. I’ve always laboured quickly and being given gas and air straight away has been a god send.

I broke my wrist a few years ago and they couldn’t get a line in so they gave me gas and air to help me relax through the shock and pain so I could get proper pain relief.

It does help a lot of women through labour.

Some of the midwives tested had levels in their blood in their 1000s at my local hospital. The safe limit is meant to be 100. Until hospitals can ensure that staff are safe then this is the only option.

Gas and air was absolutely all I needed. I wouldn't have asked for an epidural and it wouldn't have been my first choice of pain relief. I would hate to have epidurals as standard.

Gas and air is phenomenal. But there is a knack to using it in Labour which I think some patients are clearly not being told (this rendering it ineffective and creating risk for no benefit). The idea of giving birth without it makes me glad my childbearing days are over. I had two back to back labours, and with my first I had an epidural which ultimately led to a disastrous forceps delivery with a baby in poor condition and significant injuries for me. The second was a breeze in comparison.

that the NHS have knowingly allowed this situation for so long is criminal. I’m wondering if there is some legal action behind this. Something must be catalysing their sudden desire to make the workplace safer for midwives.

The article also says there's no evidence this has happened 🤷

I would prefer them just doing air, I think the gas and air helps regulate breathing which helps massively. Drop the gas part while it’s being investigated and protect the staff. But leave the air on if possible to help women breathe better

If the health risks relate to infertility and miscarriage isn't it possible to have gas and air available depending on the midwife who is looking after the patient? Going off the midwives I had with DD not 1 was below the age of I would guess 45 so isn't it most likely these risks wouldn't matter as much compared to someone in their 20s? It just feels like a blanket ban is a bit unnecessary.

Probably only because they haven’t investigated it. The evidence shows it does cause infertility and miscarriages. The nhs haven’t done any sort of study to show if such rates are higher in midwives and other staff, let alone ask individuals. And of course they won’t. However when people start suing the arse off their employers they are going to struggle that such issues have not been caused by their negligence. Plus any neurological issues. Plus the female partners of male employees can have their fertility affected.

No because it’s neurological problems as well. Permanent, irreversible issues.

Dentists outside of NHS hospital settings etc have had to prove their practices have proper filtration/air flow or whatever to demonstrate the air is safe for staff. Its criminal that the NHS hasn't, this risk has been known about for many years and is probably a reason (amongst others) it isn't widely used in many other countries. Sorry to women and others as its used for things other than during childbirth, but thank goodness they're finally thinking of staff. It appears many trusts have suspended it rather than banned whilst they sort it out.

They didn't for me. Had a tens machine for my first labour and just found it annoying. Ended up with an epidural due to high blood pressure. To be far I hated the gas and air too as they gave me a facemask and it made me feel clostrophobic.

Second labour was just gas and air through a mouthpiece and I thought it was great.

Wtf?! So women need to have lots of interventions regardless of whether they want them or not?

I didn't need nor want an epidural or c section. Tbh in my second birth I hardly used the gas and air either.

If this is dangerous to HCW's then absolutely it should be stopped, but there should also be a plan to improve ventilation drawn up and carried out by hospitals.

Same here. Tens machine was absolutely useless. I gave birth using gas and air instead.

I'd also like to know what pain relief they will offer for repairing certain tears. I had labial tears and the doctor repairing them said the local anesthetic would not be effective due to where they were located. I had gas and air instead but it was still blooming painful.

Absolutely agree that midwives etc need to be protected but there does need to be consideration of women giving birth. The suggestion of paracetamol is frankly insulting and epidurals and cesareans seem far more intrusive for the person giving birth (as well as availability being a potential issue). I only had gas and air and found it extremely effective, though I wouldn't want to be the cause of someone else's suffering. Surely they need to focus on ways to improve ventilation so that everyone's safety is considered.