Outrage as NHS bosses approve ‘pseudoscientific’ pain relief for women in labour

NHS bosses have been accused of offering cheap ‘pseudoscientific’ injections of sterile water as painkillers for women suffering agonizing back pain during childbirth.

The health service’s medicines and treatments watchdog gave the controversial treatment option: injecting water into the lower back. — his seal of approval on the new direction.

Campaigners and doctors criticized the move, claiming the NHS was now offering treatment. which equivalent to “acupuncture and hypnosis.”

They said it was yet another example of how women’s pain problems are ignored or underestimated in healthcare.

But some midwives and obstetricians have defended the treatment and said critics were ignoring data showing the injections can work.

Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), published on Friday, endorsed injections as a “cost-effective” option to relieve pain for women in labor with back pain.

It says midwives should: “Explain to the woman that sterile water injections can relieve back pain from 10 minutes after the injection up to 3 hours, but there may be an initial stinging sensation.”

The treatment will be offered to women who suffer horrible, stabbing lower back pain during childbirth.

This pain can occur if the baby’s head is in an uncomfortable position during delivery and, as a result, puts incredible strain on the nerves in the lower back.

The treatment consists of injecting a small amount of water into the lower back area.

This, in theory, activates nerves in the skin that effectively hijack the pain signal from deeper nerves stretched by the baby’s head, providing pain relief.

While some NHS trusts already offer these sterile water injections during childbirth, NICE guidelines are expected to make them more widespread.

The watchdog’s decision was heavily criticized by some high-profile doctors and activists on social media.

Some called the treatment pseudoscience, as doctors do not fully understand how it works, while others worried that doctors would once again ignore women’s pain during childbirth.

Television GP Dr Amir Khan, who frequently appears on ITV, called it “very worrying”.

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Dr Rachel Clarke, author and NHS palliative care doctor, simply called NICE’s decision “absolutely astonishing”.

The Association of Obstetric Anesthetists, a group of doctors dedicated to best practices in pain relief in maternity care, also criticized the treatment.

In a letter to NICE during the consultation phase for the new guidelines, they wrote: ‘What possible plausible biological explanation is there for the benefit of intracutaneous or subcutaneous injections of water in volumes of 0.1 to 0.4 ml?’

“Given that it is cheap and unlikely to cause harm, it is an inadequate justification for a recommendation, especially as NICE does not recommend other similar non-pharmacological therapies such as acupuncture and hypnosis.”

However, some obstetrics and midwifery experts advocated offering sterile water injections as an option to women suffering from this very specific pain.

Professor Sally Collins, an expert in obstetrics at the University of Oxford and lead author of a study into the effectiveness of sterile water injections for back pain during childbirth, told MailOnline she understood some of the concerns surrounding the treatment. , since, at first glance, “it sounds ridiculous.”

His studywhich involved more than a thousand women, showed that the injections worked for lower back pain during childbirth, but made it clear that it should not be the only pain relief offered.

“No one is suggesting this treatment for contraction pain or anything else, it’s very specific to the small number of women who receive this presentation,” she said.

“For the women it works for, it works brilliantly.”

Professor Collins added that the NICE guidance makes clear that injections are presented as an option for women, some of whom may not want severe pain relief during childbirth, or those who want to give birth at home.

“We are not saying that women will only be offered this and nothing else,” she said.

TV GP Dr Amir Khan, who frequently appears on ITV, called the new NICE guidance “very worrying”.

Dr Rachel Clarke, author and NHS palliative care doctor, simply called NICE’s decision “absolutely astonishing”.

“A lot of these women don’t want to go to the hospital, they don’t want an epidural and they don’t want a C-section.”

She acknowledged and agreed with concerns from some on social media that health professionals often “failed to adequately treat or take seriously” women’s pain.

She said: “A woman with chest pain is much more likely to be sent home with Gaviscon when she is actually having a heart attack than a man.”

However, Professor Collins said the outrage over NICE’s decision was misplaced.

‘They have come to the conclusion that this is nonsense, pseudoscience, something horrible that a lot of people who don’t take women’s pain seriously have introduced into NICE. And it’s not,’ she said.

Professor Jenny Gamble, a midwifery expert at Coventry University, added that the new NICE guidelines sought to give women more options for pain relief during childbirth.

He also dismissed some of the criticism surrounding the injections.

“It’s pretty common to find something that works and then figure out how it works,” he told this website.

“The mechanism of action of aspirin, which was once the most widely used drug in the world as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic, was not known until about 80 years ago.”

A NICE spokesperson said the guidelines were part of an extensive consultation and focused on giving women more options for pain relief during childbirth.

“Healthcare professionals should use clinical judgment when implementing recommendations, taking into account the individual’s circumstances, needs and preferences,” they said.

“We reviewed the evidence from 11 studies and found that sterile water injections provided relief from back pain and could be considered as part of a suite of pain relief options during childbirth.”

Options for pain relief during childbirth are a controversial area.

Several women have reported that NHS doctors and midwives ignored or rejected their requests for strong pain relief during childbirth.