Why does epidural slow labor

The difference is that for labor, the medication is injected near the lower spinal cord in order to numb the pain of a baby passing through the pelvis. The medication used in an epidural is a mix of a Novocain-like drug along with a narcotic medication. From the level near the spinal cord that the drug is injected on downward, the body gets numb and a woman feels very little pain, leaving instead a vague sensation of pressure.

For labor a dilute mixture is used, so women can typically feel their legs and feel pressure in the pelvic area, so they know where to focus on pushing the baby out. This study confirms what many of us suspected. They need verbal support and guidance! And now we can do so without women feeling guilt or fault if they have a cesarean not that they should ever feel that way — except they do. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.

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Would anyone really believe this when the U. Clearly epidurals were given in both cases. Excuse me? The study did not compare laboring women with an epidural vs without an epidural. This is a completely misleading headline and article. Shame on you Harvard — I thought you had higher standards.

Now this false headline — which does not accurately describe the research if you read the actual study, will be making the rounds on social media. However, serious complications from an epidural, including paralysis, are extremely rare. Why have I not done this before? No matter the decision, our goal is to give the mother and family the best delivery experience they can have. Our patients are provided with many options for a safe birthing experience and we are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Your doctor can also direct you to appropriate birthing classes and additional information. Skip to content Due to CoVid19, Telemedicine appointments are now available. Learn more. What is an epidural? However, there are some side effects that mothers may experience: Low blood pressure Cold chills or shivering A headache Nausea When can you get an epidural? None of the moms-to-be, researchers, and doctors or midwives knew who was given what at the time.

The researchers found that the length of the second stage of labor was similar for both groups—it lasted about 52 minutes for women who were given pain medication and 51 minutes for those who had saline. Doctors also asked that epidurals be stopped for 38 patients whose labor was progressing slowly but, of those, 17 of those women were in the saline group. Senior study coauthor Philip E.

Hess, M. Every woman's labor and delivery experience is different, which is why it's so difficult to test why some women have longer labors than others. In general, women who have more difficult labors tend to feel more pain and are more likely to ask for an epidural, Dr. Hess points out. That said, all of the women in this study had an epidural at some point, so this isn't the same as comparing women who never received an epidural with women who did receive one.

And, once she had an epidural, she was able to relax enough to concentrate on pushing. Women in excessive pain were given unblinded doses of the active pain medication at their doctors' discretion and doctors could also terminate epidural infusions at any time based on clinical indicators.

The primary outcome, the duration of the second stage of labor, was similar between both groups: about 52 minutes for women given active pain medication versus about 51 minutes for women given the saline -- just a 3.

The median times were also similar: 45 minutes for women on active pain medication versus 46 for those on saline. Of note, obstetricians requested to stop epidural infusions in 38 patients for poor progression of labor. Of these, 17 of the women were in the saline group.

Twenty-one were in the active medication group. In addition to the duration of the second stage of labor, Hess and his colleagues looked at a variety of outcomes measuring fetal health and well-being, such as birth weight, Apgar scores -- a quick measure of fetal health taken minutes after birth -- and umbilical artery pH, a metric for assessing fetal blood oxygen levels.

The team also compared patient-reported pain scores and patient satisfaction with pain control measures.