The PAIN (Pelvic Area Injection for Numbness) Study

Postpartum pain can interfere with patient's ability to care for themselves, and their newborn, and untreated pain is associated with risk of greater opioid use, postpartum depression, and development of persistent pain. The research hypothesis of this study is that adding a locally injected analgesic, which will take effect once the epidural analgesia fades, may alleviate perineal pain and improve women's overall well-being and satisfaction. The objective of this study is to determine if prolonged analgesia and higher rate of maternal satisfaction are found when bupivacaine with epinephrine infiltration is used for perineal repair as compared to sham injection in patients with pre-existing effective epidural analgesia at time of perineal laceration repair.