Systemic Opioid Analgesia in Labour

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. Explain how systemic opioids reduce labour pain and why they can also depress maternal, fetal, and neonatal respiration. 2. Select appropriate nursing checks before administering morphine, fentanyl, or meperidine. 3. Apply current labour dosing regimens and identify renal or hepatic factors that change drug selection. 4. Distinguish expected opioid-related sedation or reduced fetal heart rate variability from maternal or fetal deterioration. 5. Prioritize ventilation, monitoring, and naloxone when opioid-related respiratory depression occurs. 6. Anticipate neonatal effects from the drug, dose, route, and time of the last maternal administration.