Pain in early labor is limited to which dermatomes?: (A) T10 -L1, (B) S1-S3, (C) L4-L5, (D) L2-L3
Answer is A. In the early stages of labour pains are mainly uterine in origin because of painful uterine contractions It is distributed along the cutaneous nerve distribution of T10 - L 1. In the later stages pain is due to cervical dilatation This pain is referred to back through sacral plexus. Ref: Dutta Obs 9e pg 112.