Thanks to whoever added  pethidine in brackets after demerol!  I had been
wondering!

The Scottish perspective again - many hospitals get round the problem of
respiratory depression in newborns following maternal pethidine by using another
drug - diamorphine (aka heroin).  Lay counsellors see sleepy babies who are
reluctant to bf.  Often mothers are offered 'just a wee jag', with no
explanation of what they are being given, or what effect it might have on the
baby and bf. If they ask, they may be told diamorphine.  I have never heard of
anyone being told that they are being given heroin.

In discussions with health professionals, I argue that women have the right to
know, and to make an informed choice - I have had the response that if they knew
that bf could be more difficult to start, they wouldn't bother trying - 'they
need the jag (injection)'.  Needless to say I find that patronising and
offensive, and believe that attitudes like this damage bf - I would rather a
woman didn't try or stopped knowing that problems were caused by her choice of
pain relief than that she simply believed that bf was difficult per se.

Do other countries use diamorphine routinely?  We are talking over 50% of prims
in Scotland.  Hardly used in England.

Well it's 1996 already in Scotland.  A 'Guid New Year tae one and a', and mony
may ye see'.

Mary Broadfoot, Paisley, Scotland