Background The effect of intrathecal block for labor pain is reliable, and maternal satisfaction is very high. This technology has attained wide spread popularity in obstetric anesthesia. Objective This paper compares the different methods of intrathecal block used for labor pain, and discusses the future perspectives of labor analgesia. Content This paper describes the applications of epidural anesthesia, patient controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), combined spinal-epidural analgesia(CSEA) and continuous spinal anesthesia(CSA) in labor analgesia, the influences of epidural anesthesia to parturient, the comparisons of CSEA and PCEA, potential complications of CSEA and neurological complications of CSA. Trend The intrathecal block is an ideal method for implementing labor analgesia. However, there is no an absolutely satisfied, safe, and simple method of labor analgesia, and relevant contents still need to be studied further.