Few medical interventions have brought about so many changes when it comes to giving birth as epidural anesthesia has done, which for a long time was baptized as "blessed epidural." Its mission is to placate the pain of contractions during dilation and during expulsion, to make labor a more bearable moment.
Its use has been extended so much that for a long time practically all women used it, until now, in recent years, that with the change of protocols and the increase of information available to mothers, many choose to have a birth natural. In addition, the reasons for assessing the decision to put on or not the epidural begin to increase, and that is that a new study explains why it can be dangerous for babies.
Study Data
The study has been carried out at the University of Granada and to do so they analyzed a population of 2609 children born at the "San Juan de la Cruz" Hospital in Úbeda, in Jaen, between 2010 and 2013.
To avoid biases, children who were born before the 37th week of pregnancy, children born after an induced delivery, after elective caesarean section or when the pregnancy was considered at risk for hypertension, diabetes, severe disease, toxemia, delayed intrauterine growth were rejected, in case of chronologically prolonged pregnancy, prolonged membrane rupture (> 24 hours), oligoamnios or polyhydramnios.
The dangers of the epidural
When comparing the children who were born as a result of an epidural birth with those who were born in an epidural birth, they saw that the Apgar test at one minute and at five minutes gave a slightly lower score (little difference, but statistically significant). It was more frequent the need for resuscitation in the first minutes of birth and they needed more income in the neonatal ICU those born with epidural.
In addition, the onset of early breastfeeding, as recommended, was more frequent in the group of children born without epidural. This difference in the onset of breastfeeding was also maintained when children who had required resuscitation and admission to NICU were omitted (as this logically delays the first dose).
The study has been published in the journal Midwifery, and Concepción Ruiz Rodríguez, Professor of the Department of Nursing at the University of Granada and lead author of the study explains the conclusions in this way:
Epidural anesthesia is one of the different alternatives used to relieve pain in childbirth. It is currently the best valued strategy for its effectiveness, so its use has extended significantly in developed countries ... (but) a number of adverse effects have also been described, both on the mother and the child. The adverse effects described on the child are attributed to the direct pharmacological effect, due to the placental transfer of the drug administered by the mother, or to an indirect indirect effect, as a consequence of the physiological changes that the drug produces in the mother, such as the changes hormonal
And it is that epidural anesthesia seems to affect the state of consciousness of the baby but can also indirectly affect through the hormonal changes that occur, in addition, by oxytocin. It is not always used, but as the epidural tends to lengthen births, it is usually given to women with synthetic oxytocin so that the contractions are more constant and strong.
This synthetic oxytocin also reaches the baby via placental route, in greater quantity than the natural oxytocin generated by women during the birth itself, and although initially it was considered a harmless action, there are studies that relate this practice to an increased risk for the baby of having Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The study researchers conclude that more studies are needed to determine the extent to which anesthesia can affect babies and suggest that, in the meantime, this information be offered to mothers so that, with all the data in hand, they choose how they prefer give birth:
Therefore, we consider it important that both health professionals (obstetricians and midwives) and mothers know and keep these risks in mind when making a decision on their administration.
But how to give birth without epidural?
Ok, giving birth with epidural takes away your pain but it can be dangerous for babies and women, but giving birth without epidural leaves you in the opposite situation, risks are eliminated for both, but then there is no pain control so external, and so the birth hurts (unless other methods such as nitrous oxide are used, for example).
It hurts, and it hurts even more when they don't allow you freedom of movement and don't let you give birth vertically. If they knock you down, if they monitor you, if they don't let you get what you need at all times, if they don't let you in your air, then it hurts more. If instead you can expand in water, in a relaxed environment, if they let you escape, dedicate yourself only to you and your delivery, then it hurts less and, as Mother Tiger said at the time, it hurts, yes, but compensates.
