Pregnant women reassured that pain relief shortage not affecting Jersey

Monday 15 August 2022

The Government is reassuring pregnant women that the global shortage of labour pain relief options is not affecting Jersey's maternity unit.

National media outlets have recently been reporting that the NHS has been hit with a shortage of epidural kits to give mothers-to-be, a key form of pain relief during childbirth, as well as the drug that women are offered as an alternative.

An epidural is a procedure during which an anaesthetist gives a woman in labour nerve-blocking drugs through a plastic tube into the “epidural space” in her back.

Manufactures have been unable to distribute their usual number of epidural kits for several months amid a worldwide lack of the blue dye used to distinguish epidural syringes from other types, because of their role in locating the epidural space. 

The impact on the supplies of epidural kits is so severe that NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC), which ensures that hospitals in England and Wales receive regular supplies of drugs and medical equipment, has rationed deliveries to just one week’s worth of stock.

The shortage has been worsened by the alternative drug Remifentanil, a short-acting opioid, also being in short supply meaning that anaesthetists are being told to reserve it for women who can't have epidurals due to medical reasons and not just preference.

This has resulted in some hospitals being unable to offer pregnant women their usual right to choose their preferred method of pain relief during birth.

However, pregnant women in Jersey are being reassured the the shortage is not affecting the island's maternity unit.

Dana Scott, Head of Midwifery, explained: “The Maternity Unit does not prescribe the painkiller Remifentanil but uses an alternative painkiller instead. Therefore it has not been affected by the shortage of Remifentanil in the UK. 

“I would also like to reassure pregnant women that the shortage of epidural kits in the UK is not affecting Jersey currently. Although there is a global shortage of the dye required for the plastic of a particular syringe used within the kits, additional stocks of epidural kits were acquired when the issue first came to light. Clinicians are also able to safely administer the epidural using a different type of syringe, of which there is no shortages globally."

She added: “I would encourage any woman who is concerned about their pain relief options during labour to speak to their midwife.”