TY  - BOOK
AU  - May, S.M.
AU  - Hussein, Z.
AU  - Das, S.
AU  - Man, A.
TI  - Labour analgesia for patients under the age of 16: an OAA approved survey
PY  - 2016///
N1  - NMUH Staff Publications; EMBASE; 26
N2  - <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Introduction: In England and Wales, data from the Office for National Statistics show that there were 5421 conceptions under the age of 16 of which 2181 resulted in maternities in 2012. Considering that there are 151 obstetric led units in England, the frequency of an individual anaesthetist providing analgesia or even inserting an epidural in this age group of patient would be potentially very low. A literature review found no guidelines or evidence for labour analgesia in this age group. Our survey set out to determine the current clinical practice of labour analgesia for patients under the age of 16 and to ascertain whether obstetric units are set up to deal with the unique challenges these patients might present to the obstetric anaesthetist. Methods: We conducted an OAA approved survey, sent electronically to 201 UK lead obstetric anaesthetists in February 2015. Questions examined the experience of offering different modes of analgesia and the service provision to labouring patients under the age of 16. Results: The completed response rate for our survey was 65.2% (131/201). 100% of responders felt competent to insert an epidural for this age group. 91% lead anaesthetists said their unit did not have a local guideline for teenage labour analgesia and only 4% were aware if their midwives received training to manage labour analgesia for teenage pregnancy. 84.7% said labour analgesia offered should be the same as women over the age of 16. (Table Presented) Discussion: Despite low exposure to epidural insertion for this age group, all lead anaesthetists felt competent to insert an epidural. This would suggest that from a technical aspect for epidural insertion the opinion is that there is no difference between an adult and a pregnant teenager under the age of 16. However, pain relief in the under 16 population can potentially be complex due to multiple psychological and social factors. The majority of units did not have local guidelines to support these patients in labour. We suggest an area for improvement would be the development of guidelines and training for staff to better support this group of patients rather than defaulting to adult protocols. (Conference abstract)</span&gt
UR  - http://www.obstetanesthesia.com/article/S0959-289X(16)00034-0/pdf
ER  -