Since doctor Richard Goldstein retired as an obstetrician/gynecologist in 1998, he found that he missed the profession.

Goldstein recently found a way to keep practicing medicine when he started offering epidural anesthesia, another option to manage pain for women in labor.

“I really missed medicine and this is a good low-key way (to practice),” Goldstein said. “If you get pregnant women comfortable, then they really appreciate it.”

While he is fully qualified as an ob/gyn and has practiced on the island since the early 1990s, Goldstein is working on an on-call basis and offering the procedure at Whidbey General Hospital whenever a pregnant woman requests it.

An epidural is a shot into the spine of a pregnant woman and allows Goldstein to control the potency of the drugs.

“The goal is to keep her kind of numb from the waist down while she controls movement of her legs,” Goldstein said.

Epidurals allow expectant mothers to enjoy other aspects of delivery rather than concentrating mainly on the pain, said Kenton Sizemore, an ob/gyn practicing on the island.

“It’s the Cadillac of pain relief for labor,” Sizemore said.

The availability of the service depends on the availability of Goldstein.

Sizemore said that Goldstein has been able to provide coverage about 80 percent of the time.

The epidurals are an optional choice of pain relief for expectant mothers. Sizemore stressed that expectant mothers don’t have to take any pain medication and can go through a more natural childbirth.

“The community … really has been requesting OB epidural anesthesia be made available for a number of years,” said Scott Rhine, CEO at Whidbey General.

He added that it has been several years since the hospital offered such a service.

Goldstein began offering epidurals in mid-July.

Rhine said he wants to be able to offer epidural service at all hours. One option the administration is considering is hiring a nurse anesthetist.

Hiring Goldstein and the potential hiring of another nurse comes after the hospital laid off approximately 13 individuals earlier this summer in a cost-saving measure.

Rhine said offering the epidural service will attract more people to the hospital instead of forcing them off island for births.