The book summarizes the theoretical and practical knowledge of the increasingly popular and widely used methods of childbirth analgesics today, addressing the anesthetic and obstetric issues of the subject in a coherent manner. After a historical review, the authors describe physiological changes in the mother's body during pregnancy that are important for anesthesiology. The chapter on the physiology of labour and delivery describes the origin, anatomy, and physiological foundations of childbirth pain. Among the analgesic methods of childbirth, methods that do not require drug administration are first described, followed by various general and regionally effective analgesic methods. In addition to intravenous and intramuscular drugs, the authors address the specifics of inhalation analgesia. The authors discuss the aspects of birth control separately when using general analgesics. The chapter on epidural anesthesia – after a brief overview of the anatomical and physiological basics and a pharmacological overview – discusses the accepted obstetric indications and contraindications, the steps of practical implementation and their difficulties, as well as advice on how to avoid and solve them. The following chapter describes the effects of epidural anesthesia. The effects on the course of delivery, uteroplacental circulation, and on the fetus and newborn are discussed separately. A separate subchapter describes possible side effects and complications and how to deal with them. The authors summarize the special issues of obstetric epidural analgesia, describe the technique of epidural anesthesia initiated for the purpose of childbirth pain relief, but later transformed into surgical anesthesia to complete delivery. The authors describe the possibilities of the use of epidural opioid analgesia in obstetrics. The book deals specifically with the features of birth control in epidural analgesia and highlights the aspects of gentle birth control in premature birth. A separate chapter summarizes which pain relieving procedure is recommended at which stage of childbirth. In the last chapters, which can be used in the teaching of epidural anesthesia, there is a section on informing the parturient in addition to explaining the steps of analgesia, and a brief summary of childbirth pain management experience in labour and birth preparation courses (antenatal classes). The sophisticated book is enriched with colour photographs and illustrations to help with everyday practice. The book is recommended for professionals in obstetrics, anesthesiology, obstetrics, perinatology, college students, or students preparing for specialty exams, but pregnant women and parents interested in the subject can also find useful information in the book.
