The basic principle of the practice guideline 'Pharmaceutical pain treatment during labour' is that during labour every woman can have adequate pain treatment at her request. Most women experience severe pain during labour, but retrospective satisfaction also depends on the support of care-givers and on the extent to which the woman was involved in decisions relating to her situation. A number of medical indications require good pain management. Epidural analgesia is the safest and most effective method, preferably as patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). PCA with remifentanil appears promising, but remains to be adequately investigated. Pethidine is far less effective. Recommended organisational changes include structured provision of information on pharmaceutical pain management in the 30th week of pregnancy, to be developed by midwives, obstetricians and anaesthetists. Other recommended changes include referral to another hospital for the treatment of choice, development of local protocols across primary and secondary care with agreements about out-patient referral to the anaesthetist, structured daily contact between obstetricians and anaesthetists, the time lapse between the request for pain treatment and the administration of the treatment, and the site of administration and monitoring.