Obstetric pain relief using epidural morphine.

Epidural injections of morphine (2.5 or 4 mg) were given to 25 patients in labour. Forty-eight per cent had good relief of pain lasting from 3 1/4 to 11 hours (average 5 1/4 hours). Sixteen per cent of patients had transient or partial relief, and in 36% there was no discernible effect at all. No serious side effects were observed in either mother or baby. It is felt that this technique merits further investigation in view of its potential advantages over more traditional methods of pain relief in labour.