ABSTRACT
The suggested term was readily accepted by Morton and the medical profession and retained its original spelling until the early twentieth century when ‘anaesthesia’ became shortened to ‘anesthesia’ in America. When chloroform was finally withdrawn the reasons cited were the risks of maternal mortality at induction or when emerging from anesthesia, and the long-term risk of liver failure. The introduction of anesthesia to surgery and obstetrics led to medical and moral controversies which captured the imagination of the general public. Simpson wrote that ‘the mortality accompanying labor is regulated principally by the previous length and degree of the patient’s struggles’ and he believed that proper analgesia would reduce such suffering and would allow easier intervention in protracted labor. However, the Entonox apparatus (50% nitrous oxide and 50% oxygen) provides the only inhalational agent available for self administered analgesia, since approval for the other methods was withdrawn.
