No topic in obstetric procedure is receiving more widespread attention than amnesia and analgesia. Those who practice the art of midwifery are well aware of this fact, for the journals are filled with reports of new methods and assorted combinations, and every patient who comes to register wants first to know what will be done to eliminate the pangs of labor. She expects to fall asleep with the first pain and awake with the baby in her arms, and she is sure from her reading that this is not only feasible but her rightful privilege. By taking it on themselves to adopt each new obstetric analgesia or anesthesia and announce it as a panacea for women's suffering, lay periodicals play a major Rôle in producing this misconception. Their articles are a medley of false impressions and incomplete truths, but they are widely read and exert sufficient popular appeal to force