Although the anaconda is a thicker, heavier snake, some pythons are the world's longest snakes. The reticulated python of Southeast Asia has an average length of up to 4 to 6 meters (13 to 21 feet), the largest measuring 9.7 meters (nearly 32 feet).
One of the most common drugs used in the labour ward is pethidine, a synthetic, addictive, narcotic drug that is similar to morphine. In Britain it is also known as meperidine, and in America it is known as Demerol.
For those who believe that in the hours before childbirth a woman needs all the (chemical) help she can get, things are looking bleak. Pethidine, a drug widely used during labour and second only in popularity to gas and air, is totally ineffective as a pain-killer, according to a recent commentary in The Lancet.