Epidural anaesthesia is a commonly used method to combat labour pains all over the world. The pain relievers that are injected into the spine of the mother during delivery may not be justified in the dose that they are used, according to a new study published in the journal The Lancet, recently.
The one year study conducted in the UK assigned 1054 women requesting epidural pain relief randomly to three experimental groups. One group was administered the traditional dose of epidural analgesic, the second one was given a lower dose of an epidural combined with regular top ups and the third one was administered a continuous pump of low dose spinal epidurals which allowed them mobility by not obstructing nerve function completely. The results showed that 43% of the women given the low dose epidurals did not need any medical intervention during labour and delivered normally as against 35% of those who had been administered the conventional dose of epidural pain relievers.
The researchers claimed that almost one fourth of deliveries requiring extraction of the baby could be prevented if low doses of epidurals were used. This is because, epidurals impeded a woman's ability to push during labour thus making the expulsion of the baby difficult. In most of such cases, the baby has to be eased out with the help of forceps. This presents a significant risk of injury to the baby during birth.
A large number of women all around the world go in for assisted deliveries for pain relief. Low dose spinal epidurals are used for this purpose in a small number of hospitals. The researchers maintain that low dose epidurals are significantly more advantageous than traditional ones and should be used more commonly. The only disadvantage that the study brought to light was that women who were given the low dose took a longer time to regain their mobility after the delivery than those who had received the traditional epidural dose. However, in the long run, temporarily impaired mobility may be a small price to pay for a healthy baby.
The Lancet; Vol. 58, No. 9275, 19-23
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