Can Expectant Ellington-Somers Moms Laugh Through Labor?

By Wendy Ann Mitchell (Patch Staff)

They say laughter is the best medicine and one Connecticut hospital is now offering “laughing through labor” as a way to help ease labor pains.

Any mother who has been through intense contractions knows that it can be incredibly painful and exhausting. Women have been known to scream, swear and possibly even throw things. But laugh? That would be the last thing on the minds of many moms-to-be.

Yale New Haven Hospital’s St. Raphael Campus is now offering laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, to help ease labor pains, according to WTHN News. The gas helps women relax and “takes the edge off.” The concentration is 50 percent less than a patient would receive at the dentist and the patient can self-administer during labor.

Although new to the East Coast, according to Commonhealth.org, the San Francisco Medical Center and the University of Washington Hospitals have been offering nitrous to women in labor on the West Coast for more than 30 years. Yale New Haven is the first hospital to offer it in the state of Connecticut.

Click here to read one mother’s testimony about how laughing through labor helped ease her labor pains.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons