SummaryAn analysis of clinical data referable to 923 lumbar epidural blocks provided during labour is presented. Points of interest include: the high incidence of completely satisfactory analgesia, the lack of serious disturbance of obstetric practice, the suggestion that application of the technique on a wide scale reduces the incidence of emergency Caesarean section, and the very low incidence of complications, with the exception of dural puncture, the frequency of which was highly correlated with the experience of the anaesthetist.