Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Epidural Labour Analgesia in Mother and Foetus

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

Aim of study was to determine effect of epidural analgesia on progress of labour and mode of delivery, to find out its complications in labour and puerperium and to evaluate neonatal outcome in terms of APGAR score.

Method

The present study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Government Medical College Aurangabad over period of 2 years from June 2014 to June 2016 after taking approval from institutional ethical board. Hundred low-risk primigravidas were included in the study, 50 women received epidural analgesia for relief of labour pain at 3–4 cm and 50 women served as control. The important  outcome  FACTORS studied were the following : (1) duration of active phase of I stage, and II stage, (2) mode of delivery, (3) APGAR scores, (4) untoward reactions and intrapartum complications, (5) overall satisfaction of the mother.

Results

The operative delivery rates were not significantly different in both the groups (8% in the control group and 6% in the study group: p value NS, i.e. > 0.05). The duration of first stage (our study showed no significant difference in the duration of first stage in both the study and control groups p value > 0.05) and second stage of labour (p value NS > 0.05) and the need for oxytocin were comparable in the two groups. The side effects observed were minimal. It has given excellent pain relief and improved neonatal outcome (5 min). EA is associated with rates of vaginal delivery (88 v/s 84%) and LSCS rate (8 v/s 6%) which are comparable with control group.

Conclusion

Epidural analgesia is a very promising, safe and effective method of pain relief. No major complications and a good APGAR score make it a good option of care in modern obstetrics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Snow J. On the administration of chloroform during parturition. Assoc Med J. 1853;1(23):500.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Boudou M, Teissedre F, Walburg V, Chabrol H. Association between the intensity of childbirth pain and the intensity of postpartum blues. L’Encephale. 2007;33(5):805–10.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Desai P, Sinha A, Gandhi S, Prajapati M. Epidural analgesia for pain relief in labour in subjects with haemoglobin between 6–4gm/dl: a prospective study. J Obstet Gynecol India. 2008;58(2):131–3.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bandyopadhyay KH, Afzal M, Mishra AK, Paul A. Labor epidural analgesia: past, present and future. Indian J Pain. 2014;28(2):71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Anim-Somuah M, Smyth RM, Jones L. Epidural versus non-epidural or no analgesia in labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011;1:12.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Abrão KC, Francisco RP, Cicarelli DD, Zugaib M. Elevation of uterine basaltone and fetal heart rate abnormalities after labor analgesia: a randomized controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2009;113(6):1374–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Sengar S, Ohary R. Observation on effects of lumbar epidural analgesia for painless labour. Int J Sci Stud. 2016;3(12):244–7.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Halpern SH, Walsh V. Epidural ropivacaine versus bupivacaine for labor: a meta-analysis. Anesth Analg. 2003;96(5):1473–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Papalkar J, Shrivastava D, Labour EA. International journal of biological and medical research. Int J Biol Med Res. 2013;4(1):2707–12.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Paddalwar S, Nagrale M, Chandak A, Shrivastava D, Papalkar J. A randomized, double-blind, controlled study comparing Bupivacaine 0.125% and Ropivacaine 0.125%, both with Fentanyl 2 μg/ml, for labor epidural analgesia. Indian J Pain. 2013;27(3):147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Agrawal D, Makhija B, Arora M, Haritwal A, Gurha P. The effect of epidural analgesia on labour, mode of delivery and neonatal outcome in nullipara of India, 2011–2014. J Clin Diagn Res JCDR. 2014;8(10):OC03.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Hincz P, Podciechowskil L, Grzesiak M, Horzelski W, Wilczyflski J. Epidural analgesia during labor: a retrospective cohort study on its effects on labour, delivery and neonatal outcome. Ginekol Pol. 2014;85(12):923–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Anwar S, Anwar MW, Ayaz A, Danish N, Ahmad S. Effect of epidural analgesia on labor and its outcomes. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2015;27(1):146–50.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Labor S, Maguire S. The pain of labour. Rev Pain. 2008;2(2):15.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Pandya ST. Labour analgesia: recent advances. Indian J Anaesth. 2010;54(5):400.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Desai P, Patel P, Gupta A, et al. Epidural analgesia in labor. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2006;56(5):417–22.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of OBGY and Government Cancer Hospital, Government Medical College (GMC), Aurangabad, India

    Varsha Laxmikant Deshmukh

  2. Department of OBGY, Government Medical College, Aurangabad, India

    Shaswatee S Ghosh, Kanan A. Yelikar & Shreeniwas N Gadappa

Authors
  1. Varsha Laxmikant Deshmukh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shaswatee S Ghosh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kanan A. Yelikar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shreeniwas N Gadappa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shaswatee S Ghosh.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Standards

The authors state that approval for the study protocol was taken from the ethical comitee of Government Medical College, Aurangabad. No regulations or policies of the journal are violated.

Additional information

Dr. Varsha Laxmikant Deshmukh MD (OBGY) FICOG FMAS Professor in the Department of OBGY and Government Cancer Hospital, GMC, Aurangabad, India; Dr. Shaswatee Ghosh CHIEF RESIDENT in the Department of OBGY, Government Medical College Aurangabad, India; Dr. Kanan A. Yelikar (MD) (OBGY) Professor in the Department of OBGY, GMC, Aurangabad, India; Dr. Shreeniwas Gadappa MD (OBGY) Professor and HOD in the Department of OBGY, GMC, Aurangabad, India.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deshmukh, V.L., Ghosh, S.S., Yelikar, K.A. et al. Effects of Epidural Labour Analgesia in Mother and Foetus. J Obstet Gynecol India 68, 111–116 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-017-1063-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-017-1063-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation