The types of regional anaesthetics used for caesarean birth are a spinal or an epidural or a combination of a spinal and epidural called a ‘combined spinal epidural’ (CSE).
Spinal anaesthetic
A spinal anaesthetic is the most commonly used form. It may be used in planned or emergency caesarean births. The nerves that carry feeling from your lower body are contained in a bag of fluid inside your backbone. The anaesthetist will inject local anaesthetic inside this bag of fluid, using a very fine needle. This method works fast, and only needs a small dose of anaesthetic.
Epidural anaesthetic
This is when a thin plastic tube or catheter is put next to the nerves in your backbone, and drugs to numb the nerves can be fed through the tube when needed. An epidural is often used to treat the pain of labour using weak local anaesthetic solutions. If you need a caesarean, the anaesthetist can top up the epidural by giving a stronger local anaesthetic solution. You would need a larger dose of local anaesthetic with an epidural than with a spinal, and it takes longer to work.
CSE
A combined spinal-epidural anaesthetic or CSE is a combination of the two. The spinal makes you numb quickly for the caesarean birth. The epidural can be used to give more anaesthetic if needed, and to give pain-relieving drugs after the caesarean.