Is pain an inevitable part of childbirth? One grin-&-bear-it school of doctors says it is.* But the search for ways to relieve the mother's pain is as old as civilization. The ancient Egyptians tried herbs, the Chinese opium. Neither worked very well. The coming of anesthesia more than a century ago did not help much. General anesthetics such as chloroform and ether made the patient unconscious, and thus unable to cooperate with the doctor and with nature's attempts to push out the baby.
Risky Past. An ideal childbirth anesthetic would be safe for both...
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