Canadian provincial healthcare systems are currently sounding the alarm about a shortage of epidurals caused by global supply chain issues. Epidurals are used as pain management primarily for pregnant women in labour.
While the problem is believed to be short term, and so far it seems no woman has actually been denied an epidural, it’s troubling to learn about the looming problem. The modern approach to obstetrics is one of the things that separates our current way of living from both the harsher past and the rougher conditions in other parts of the world. The absence of serious pain relief in labour is a problem that just shouldn’t happen here.
