Birth event—type of analgesia administered, code N[N]

Identifying and definitional attributes

• Health, Superseded 17/12/2021

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Collection and usage attributes

CODE 6   Systemic opioids

Includes intramuscular and intravenous opioids.

CODE 7   Combined spinal-epidural block

The spinal-epidural block combines the benefits of rapid action of a spinal block and the flexibility of an epidural block. An epidural catheter inserted during the technique enables the provision of long-lasting analgesia with the ability to titrate the dose for the desired effect.

CODE 88   Other analgesia

Includes all non-narcotic oral analgesia and non-pharmacological methods such as hypnosis, acupuncture, massage, relaxation techniques, temperature regulation and aromatherapy.

Code 1 (None) and Code 3 (Intra-muscular narcotics) have been omitted as these codes are no longer in use. For information about their meaning in previous data elements, see superseded versions.

Source and reference attributes

National Perinatal Data Development Committee

Data element attributes

Collection and usage attributes

More than one permissible value may be recorded.

CODE 7   Combined spinal-epidural block

Combined spinal-epidural block should not be recorded if both Code 4 and Code 5 are also recorded.

Analgesia use may influence the duration of labour, may affect the health status of the baby at birth and is an indicator of obstetric intervention. Analgesia may also influence a female's satisfaction with her birth experience and is an indicator of access to anaesthesia services, i.e. epidural analgesia is not available for females in birth events where there are no anaesthetic services.

Source and reference attributes

National Perinatal Data Development Committee

Relational attributes