Australia's mothers and babies

Analgesia is used to relieve pain during labour. Data in this section are therefore limited to mothers who had labour, whether spontaneous or induced (note that some mothers who labour may go on to have a caesarean section and receive anaesthesia instead of, or as well as, analgesia). More than one type of analgesic can be administered.

In 2023, 4 in 5 (80%) women who had labour received pain relief, which has been slowly rising from 76% in 2010.

In 2023, the most common types were nitrous oxide (inhaled) (52 per 100), followed by epidural or caudal analgesic (42 per 100) and systemic opioids (9.8 per 100).

Figure 1 presents trend data on the analgesia administration status of women who laboured, by selected maternal characteristics, between 2010 (or earliest available year of data) and 2023. Select the ‘Current data’ button to view 2023 data.

More than 9 in 10 women who had an instrumental vaginal birth received pain relief (97% for vaginal births assisted with forceps and 94% for vaginal births assisted with vacuum extraction). Additionally, women who gave birth in a private hospital were more likely to receive pain relief (85%) than women who gave birth in a public hospital (81%).

Overall, 20% of mothers did not receive analgesia and some groups were less likely to receive analgesia including those who:

• were aged 40 or more (26%)
• had given birth before (from 25% for mothers with one previous pregnancy to 38% for mothers with 4 or more previous pregnancies).