Retrospective study of the association between epidural analgesia during labour and complications for the newborn

Abstract

Objective: our objective was to determine the association between epidural analgesia and different variables.

Background: the effect on newborns of epidural analgesia administered to the mother during labour remains under debate.

Method: this association was retrospectively investigated in a cohort of 2399 children born in a Spanish public hospital. Only full-term (>37 weeks of gestation) deliveries were included. Other exclusion criteria were: induced delivery (medical or obstetric indication), elective caesarean section, or the presence of an important pregnancy risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, severe disease, toxaemia, retarded intrauterine growth, chronologically prolonged pregnancy, prolonged membrane rupture (>24 hours), oligoamnios, or polyhydramnios). The Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher׳s exact test were applied to determine the relationship between variables.

Key conclusions: Apgar index values at one minute and five minutes were slightly but significantly lower in neonates whose mothers had received epidural analgesia. Neonatal intensive care unit admission was significantly more frequent in the epidural versus non-epidural group. Resuscitation was significantly more frequent in the epidural versus non-epidural group. Early breast feeding onset was more frequent in the non-epidural group. The adverse effect of epidural analgesia on early lactation remained significant after adjusting for NICU admission and the need for resuscitation in a logistic regression analysis. Epidural analgesia may have adverse effects on newborns, although the risks are low, and further research is required to elucidate the causal nature of this relationship.

Keywords: Apgar score; Breast feeding; Childbirth; Epidural analgesia; Labour; Parturition.