Epidural Effects on ChildbirthWhen it comes to relief of labor pain, everyone agrees epidurals are the best medication for the job. But when the question of how an epidural effects labor is asked, a variety of points of view compete for attention. In fact, there is some heated disagreement on epidural effects in childbirth. Part of the problem lies in the fact that an epdural is a process for administering medications - not a medication itself. So two women receiving epidurals in two different hospitals at the same time could have very different experiences. The amount and type of medications vary as much as the policies around epidural use. Unfortunately, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the combined effects of such a variety of procedures. The second part of the problem is in the research itself. Most research into pain medication use for labor is interested in how well the medication eliminates the pain. Side effects are usually a secondary issue, if the research looks at them at all. In order to find out more about the effects of epdurals on labor, the Maternity Center Association included reviews of epidurals in its project into the nature of labor pain and its management. As a part of the project, two separate teams of researchers investigated the effects of epidurals on childbirth, and a third researcher reviewed the most common side effects. Where they agreeThe two review groups agreed that women who used epidural pain relief were more likely to have a longer second stage of labor (pushing), more likely to need forceps or vacuum extraction and more likely to have a fever. Where only one team exploredSome effects of epidurals were only investigated by one team or the other, so were only found by one team. Among these effects of epidurals are:
The researchers also found that epidruals may be associated with: Where they disagreeIn four areas the teams came to different conclusions:
Why did they find different results? Each team set its own criteria for what studies could be included in the project. A study that may have been acceptable to one team may have been unacceptable to another. Because they used different sets of research they found some contradictory results. Most common side effectsIn examining the most common side effects, the research team focused on the effects of the "light" or "walking" epidural. They found a wide range of frequency in side effects. References:
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