SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Mothers delivering at Mercy Hospital Springfield now have a new option for managing pain during labor: nitrous oxide.

Mercy recently began offering the new pain management method in August, and are the only hospital in Springfield that offer it. It's described as an alternative for women who want something between an unmedicated birth and an epidural, according to Brittany Shaar, Nurse Manager for Labor and Delivery at Mercy Springfield.

“Nitrous oxide is something that’s actually been used for centuries, but it’s really just started to come into the U.S. to be utilized at various hospitals,” Shaar said. “This was born out of conversations with patients about how they wanted an option in between the unmedicated birth and the epidural.”

Unlike the continuous high-conce

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