Neuraxial analgesia is the gold standard to relieve labor pain. It also helps to attenuate maternal anxiety and improve maternal satisfaction. A recent Practice guidelines for obstetric anesthesia suggests that neuraxial analgesia should be provided in the early stage of labor (cervical dilation < 5 cm) or, for some special patients, be provided on a individualized basis. Studies showed that, when compared with late administration, early administration of labor analgesia resulted in equivocal findings for spontaneous, instrumented, and cesarean delivery. The investigators hypothesize that neuraxial labor analgesia provided on an individualized basis will further improve analgesia quality and maternal satisfaction. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to investigate whether neuraxial labor analgesia administered on an individualized basis can improve analgesia quality and maternal satisfaction.
Neuraxial analgesia is the gold standard to relieve labor pain. A recent Practice guidelines for obstetric anesthesia suggests that neuraxial analgesia should be provided in the early stage of labor (cervical dilation < 5 cm) or on a individualized basis. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to investigate whether neuraxial labor analgesia administered on an individualized basis can improve analgesia quality and maternal satisfaction.