Pros and cons of Epidural Anesthesia

When a woman is expecting a baby she has just one thought in mind: make the birth become a perfect moment! She will have hundreds of things to do like furnishing her baby’s room or buying everything she may need to ensure him comfort, wellness and safety like baby nappies, pram, pushchair, bath accessories, baby control and a lot more.

Besides all this, it comes the moment when every mother starts wondering how the delivery will be and the pain she will feel. Indeed, giving birth to the own baby without suffering too much it nearly seems a dream!
For this reason, many women today prefer to give birth with the help of the epidural anesthesia that doctors consider to be safe and effective as not only it provides rapid pain relief during labor but also it allows the mother to clearly feel contractions and pushing times.

What is epidural anesthesia?

The epidural anesthesia is a form of regional anesthesia involving injection of drugs through a catheter placed into the epidural space. The injection can cause both a loss of sensation and a loss of pain by blocking the transmission of signals through nerves in or near the spinal cord. In general, the injection is made in the mid-lumbar, or lower back region of the spine outside the membrane called the Dura Mater.
It is important to make clear that there is no danger to damage the spine as it is protected by a thick membrane. A particular type of needle, long and thin, is inserted between the second and the third vertebrae (or between the third and the fourth) near the peripheral nerves that gather the painful stimuli that will be transmitted to the spinal cord.
Thanks to this needle it is possible to infiltrate gradually the skin with anaesthetic conducted by a catheter; at the end of this operation the needle is taken out.
In this way, the mother does not feel pain not even during the preparatory phases but it is important that she keeps on lying on one side.

Effects on the baby

Some currents of thought affirm that for the baby the epidural anesthesia is even safer than the traditional method. Let’s see why:

- If the labor lasted for too long, it could arise a reaction to stress so strong to affect baby’s health
- In case of complications and a possible emergency Caesarean section, doctors would not waste precious time as the woman is already anesthetized and immediately ready to bear a surgery
- Epidural anesthesia shortens cervical dilatation length making labor faster
- Mother’s more relaxed body during labor entails a major oxygen contribution to the baby as well

As regards the expulsive phase, the opinions regarding its time diminution are dissenting: according to someone, compared to average, the epidural anesthesia lengthens the time of the expulsive phase as the mother does not cooperate in an effective way since she does not feel pain. Instead, according to other specialists, a capable obstetrician can make the expulsive phase even faster as everything depends on his expertise in analgesia deliveries.
Indeed, it is important to point out that a baby born with the epidural anesthesia, may show a fundamental reflexes disorganization and a delayed onset and shorter duration of breastfeeding: this difficulty may persist up to the first month.

Effects on the mother

Thanks to the help of the epidural anesthesia, many mothers experienced a different delivery without feeling pain as it may happen that some of them can’t bear the pain of the contractions for their strong intensity. Indeed, the epidural anesthesia helps the mother to relax as she does not feel pain anymore and does not contract muscles.

The epidural anesthesia, thou, does not give only benefits but also a few negative aspects.
In fact, if the woman decides to use this technique she will need a catheter to drain urine and she won’t be able to stand up all along the labor. Moreover, it can arise trembling episodes but that can be easily borne.
It is also important to point out that the epidural anesthesia does not always give pain relief: indeed some women reported shooting localized pain meaning that the anesthesia did not work properly.

Mothers, be informed!

Even if many doctors consider the epidural anesthesia a technique highly effective and safe, there are countries where this practice is less requested. On the contrary, in countries like United Kingdom and France this is very popular and widespread.
In some countries, the factors that contribute to discourage women from using it are both a lack of personnel and a 24h dedicated service in the hospitals both the psychological conditioning caused by the prejudices regarding the problems that may arise after the injection.
For this reason, the best solution is always get informed about this practice with the family doctor and the hospital where you are going to give birth.