This week, Emily Roller of Brantford, Ont. received the last news any pregnant person wants to hear in the lead-up to their delivery. ?My midwife told me that there are epidurals available for very extreme cases and those with health risks. Everyone else, unfortunately, is SOL,? she says.
In case you missed it, over the last week or so, news broke of a global epidural catheter shortage that’s affecting many parts of Canada (and there may be more to come). This is of course of grave concern to pregnant people who planned to manage their labour pain with an epidural. But while an epidural is the ?gold standard? because it allows for pain relief to be given continuously over an extended period of time, there are lots of other pain-management options, including pharmaceuticals, says Dr. Lucie Filteau, Vice President of the Canadian Anesthesiologists? Society. ?If certain hospitals are left without epidural catheters, then they’ll be using these other techniques for more patients than before, but they’re not new,? she says. If you’ve been told that your upcoming labour and delivery could be affected by the shortage, read on for alternative pain-management options you may have access to.
What is an epidural, actually" 
An anesthesiologist inserts a catheter about five centimetres into your back via needle, so local anesthetic can be delivered to the epidural space, where it puts the nerves passing through the spine to sleep, stopping the pain message...