Laughing gas used to give birth

A Minnesota birthing center is offering a new pain killer option for moms in labor. But it isn’t a drug, it’s a gas.

Laughing gas is slowly getting reintroduced in the U.S. as a self-administered pain control for labor pains.

Expecting mothers say the gas offers several benefits over other treatment options.

Long before little Jacqueline White was born, her mom, Jenna, didn’t plan on using any pain relief during labor. Then she found out about nitrous-oxide.

“It felt more like a middle ground, than getting an epidural. It felt a little safer,” said Jenna White.

Nitrous-oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, has been used for labor pains in the United Kingdom since the 1930s.
Only now is it making a comeback in the U.S., since the FDA approved new self-administrating nitrous-oxide machines in 2012.

“It’s totally patient controlled, I had complete control over when I took breaths, how many breaths to take,” said White.

“It’s growing by leaps and bounds,” said Kerry Dixon.

Dixon has been delivering babies for 20 years, and used the laughing gas for laboring mothers in New Zealand. She says it helps alleviate mental anxiety to ease physical pain, and poses less health risks for mom and baby than other options.

“They’re also free to move around, they can be on a birthing ball, they can be sitting in a rocking chair, they can be pacing. Other medications we offer in the United States require them to be in bed,” said Dixon.

“It definitely did help once I figured it out and got me through some really tough labor,” said White.

Fifty-five hours of labor to be exact, but once White used the gas, Jacqueline was born.

“I would recommend it. I think it’s a really, it’s just another option to have out there,” said White.

The gas is the cheapest of other labor pain relief options, it costs less than $100.