Pain relief

​​​ On this page

  1. Overview
  2. Pain relief by local health district of hospital, NSW 2022
  3. Downloads
  4. Notes
  5. Related links

Overview

The table below shows the type of pain relief provided to women during labour or delivery for local health districts, and for individual hospitals by maternity service level where at least 200 mothers gave birth in 2022 (downloadable only).

In addition to the types of pain relief shown in the tables, in 2022 a further 14,749 (16.3%) women giving birth in NSW were reported to have received local anaesthetic to the perineum, and 539 (0.6%) received a pudendal block.

Pain relief by local health district of hospital, NSW 2022

By number of births

Hospital sector–Local Health DistrictEpidural–spinal1General anaestheticIntramuscular opioidsNitrous oxideNilTotal3
Public–Sydney332016813516146195134
Public–South Western Sydney509434510694719123610377
Public–South Eastern Sydney447911342327723226861
Public–Illawarra Shoalhaven195010222013972443309
Public–Western Sydney561922151341557119844
Public–Nepean Blue Mountains262819035019153214584
Public–Northern Sydney28856424119582854848
Public–Central Coast147511516813012633005
Public–Hunter New England491444368240126829087
Public–Northern NSW14378513510153532779
Public–Mid North Coast115655968282422200
Public–Southern NSW817n.p.n.p.7001171601
Public–Murrumbidgee1163672179551792182
Public–Western NSW185710639515762733478
Public–Far West86n.p.n.p.9828205
Public–Total388802129475029015587569494
Private173811631315414071420509
Total NSW2562612292606533155686990417

By percentage of births

Hospital sector–Local Health DistrictEpidural–spinal1General anaestheticIntramuscular opioidsNitrous oxideNilTotal3
Public–Sydney64.73.32.631.412.1100.0
Public–South Western Sydney49.13.310.345.511.9100.0
Public–South Eastern Sydney65.31.66.240.44.7100.0
Public–Illawarra Shoalhaven58.93.16.642.27.4100.0
Public–Western Sydney57.12.25.242.27.2100.0
Public–Nepean Blue Mountains57.34.17.641.87.0100.0
Public–Northern Sydney59.51.35.040.45.9100.0
Public–Central Coast49.13.85.643.38.8100.0
Public–Hunter New England54.14.97.544.27.5100.0
Public–Northern NSW51.73.14.936.512.7100.0
Public–Mid North Coast52.52.54.437.611.0100.0
Public–Southern NSW51.0n.p.n.p.43.77.3100.0
Public–Murrumbidgee53.33.19.943.88.2100.0
Public–Western NSW53.43.011.445.37.8100.0
Public–Far West42.0n.p.n.p.47.813.7100.0
Public–Total55.93.16.841.88.5100.0
Private84.70.86.420.23.5100.0
Total NSW262.22.56.736.77.6100.0

Downloads

Notes

Source: NSW Perinatal Data Collection (SAPHaRI). Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health.

  1. The category 'epidural–spinal' includes epidural, spinal, combined epidural and spinal, and caudal pain relief.
  2. Total NSW includes births at home assisted by independent midwives.
  3. Row percentages do not sum to 100 per cent as 1 woman may have more than 1 type of analgesia.
  4. Cells with counts less than 5 are suppressed, and other cells may also be hidden to prevent back-calculation. These cells are marked with n.p.

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Current as at: Wednesday 31 July 2024
Contact page owner: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence