New Delhi: New research published in the British Medica Journal has found that having an epidural during labor reduces the risk of post-birth complications by 35 percent.
Complications referred to as severe maternal morbidity (SMM) may include heart attack, sepsis (infection-fighting chemicals cause inflammation), a hysterectomy, in which the uterus is surgically removed.
Epidural analgesia, in which anesthetic drugs are delivered through small tubes into a space outside the spinal cord, may be effective in women at risk for SMM due to obesity, multiple births or premature delivery, the researchers said. Recommended for.
While previous studies have suggested that epidural analgesia in labor reduces the risk of SMM, researchers including those at the University of Glasgow said the evidence was limited.
For their study, the team used data from the Scottish National Health Service on more than 5.5 million deliveries in the country between 2007 and 2019, to mothers who delivered vaginally or through unplanned caesarean section.More than 1.25 lakh out of 5.5 lakh (about 22 per cent) mothers were found to have an epidural during delivery and 4.3 per 1000 births were found to have SMM.
"Epidural analgesia during labor was associated with a 35 percent reduction in SMM, and showed a more pronounced effect in women with a clinical indication for epidural analgesia and in women with preterm birth," the authors wrote.
"This effect was more pronounced in specific groups, with a 50 percent reduction in risk seen among women with predefined risk factors, and a 47 percent reduction seen among women who had delivered preterm," they wrote.
The researchers suggested possible explanations for the reduced risk, including the blunt physical stress experienced by mothers during delivery due to anesthesia.
The authors acknowledged that the study included predominantly white women delivering in Scotland, which may limit the application of their findings to broader, more ethnically diverse populations, or to different health care settings.Moreover, being an observational study, no cause-and-effect conclusions could be drawn, he said.
The findings "should serve as a catalyst for initiatives aimed at improving equitable access to epidural analgesia during delivery, potentially reducing SM and improving maternal health outcomes across diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds," the authors wrote. Can do."
"Expanding access to epidural analgesia to all women during labor, particularly those at greatest risk, could improve maternal health," they wrote.
Complications referred to as severe maternal morbidity (SMM) may include heart attack, sepsis (infection-fighting chemicals cause inflammation), a hysterectomy, in which the uterus is surgically removed.
Epidural analgesia, in which anesthetic drugs are delivered through small tubes into a space outside the spinal cord, may be effective in women at risk for SMM due to obesity, multiple births or premature delivery, the researchers said. Recommended for.
While previous studies have suggested that epidural analgesia in labor reduces the risk of SMM, researchers including those at the University of Glasgow said the evidence was limited.
For their study, the team used data from the Scottish National Health Service on more than 5.5 million deliveries in the country between 2007 and 2019, to mothers who delivered vaginally or through unplanned caesarean section.More than 1.25 lakh out of 5.5 lakh (about 22 per cent) mothers were found to have an epidural during delivery and 4.3 per 1000 births were found to have SMM.
"Epidural analgesia during labor was associated with a 35 percent reduction in SMM, and showed a more pronounced effect in women with a clinical indication for epidural analgesia and in women with preterm birth," the authors wrote.
"This effect was more pronounced in specific groups, with a 50 percent reduction in risk seen among women with predefined risk factors, and a 47 percent reduction seen among women who had delivered preterm," they wrote.
The researchers suggested possible explanations for the reduced risk, including the blunt physical stress experienced by mothers during delivery due to anesthesia.
The authors acknowledged that the study included predominantly white women delivering in Scotland, which may limit the application of their findings to broader, more ethnically diverse populations, or to different health care settings.Moreover, being an observational study, no cause-and-effect conclusions could be drawn, he said.
The findings "should serve as a catalyst for initiatives aimed at improving equitable access to epidural analgesia during delivery, potentially reducing SM and improving maternal health outcomes across diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds," the authors wrote. Can do."
"Expanding access to epidural analgesia to all women during labor, particularly those at greatest risk, could improve maternal health," they wrote.
