Epidural Shortage in Canada Causes Expecting Parents to Panic

Giving birth is one of the most painful experiences a woman will ever go through. Some women embrace the raw pain and go through childbirth as a natural process. However, some would want to go to labor, if not painlessly, then with lesser pain through the intervention of an injection called an epidural.

As a nationwide epidural shortage hits Canada, CTV News reported a growing concern. More than the hospitals and the doctors, expecting parents are in a panic as they are forced to consider other pain management options, adding up to the stress and anxiety of pregnancy and childbirth.

Expecting mother feels robbed

Kiersten Bellmore-Nidd, 28, and 27 weeks pregnant with her second son, cannot help but feel more anxious than ever. She recalled that it took so much courage and serious conversation with her husband before she was again ready to get pregnant and have another child. Her first childbirth traumatized her, and she was nervous and fearful of doing it again.

She cannot imagine giving birth without an epidural. She had it during her first childbirth, yet the experience was traumatic. What more now that there is a possibility she could not have it? Thus, since she learned about the shortage at work, being a laboratory technician in Ottawa, Canada, she has become so worried.

"I feel robbed this time around. You want to have options, so when one of your options is taken away, it feels like some of your control gets taken away from you," she expressed in an interview with Today Parents.

Canadian hospitals assure patient care will not be affected

COVID-19 has interrupted and hampered many things, which have seriously affected the chain of demand and supply. Medication and medical device shortages are not exempt, and the lack of epidural catheters is the most recent.

There is enough supply of the medication. However, there is a shortage of catheters or tubes, the thin plastic tube inserted into the lower back by a needle to allow doctors to continue administering pain medication to the spinal area throughout the entire labor procedure.

Hospitals in Canada said they are monitoring the situation and are currently sourcing other suppliers for the device. The shortage has not affected patient care, Ottawa Citizen reported.

The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) stated in an email that they are working closely with suppliers to find substitutes and alternatives as they navigate the supply chain issue. They also assure that while they manage the supply, there will be no impact or negative effect on patient care.

The same is said at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, which assured the public that epidural catheters are currently on allocation. Their procurement team is in one direction with their suppliers and clinical teams to ensure they have "appropriate, clinically-approved substitute products available for patients."

The Montfort Hospital said in a statement that their supply is enough to provide for every patient's need for an epidural. Contingency plans are in progress at the regional level.