Introduction: One of the most commonly used pharmacological method for relieving labour pain is use of epidural analgesia. Purpose: To examine whether epidural analgesia affects the incidence of maternal outcomes (shoulder dystocia, third and fourth degree perineal tears and postpartum haemorrhage) and neonatal outcomes (neonatal mortality, Apgar scores <7 5 minutes after birth, perinatal asphyxia and Erb's palsy). Methods: A prospective cohort survey was conducted. Data was obtained from the National Perinatal Information System of the Republic Slovenia during the period from 2007 to 2014. We included women who started birth spontaneously or by induction. Women who had a planned caesarean section were excluded. Participants were classified according to the Ten Group Classification System. Comparison was made between groups with and without epidural analgesia. Hi-square test (p < 0,05 level of significance) was used for analysis. Results: 207525 births were analysed. With use of epidural analgesia, there was a higher incidence of: shoulder dystocia in one of the groups (5b), third and fourth degree perineal tears in six groups (3, 4a, 5a, 5b, 6b, 10b), perinatal asphyxia in three groups (1, 5a, 5b) and Erb’s palsy in one group (8b). In contrast, with the use of epidural analgesia, there was a lower incidence of: postpartum haemorrhage in the two groups (1, 2a) and Apgar score <7 5 minutes after birth in the three groups (2a, 8b, 10a). Early neonatal mortality did not differ between births with and without epidural analgesia. Discussion and conclusion: With epidural analgesia, there were fewer postpartum haemorrhages in primigravidas, more third and fourth degree perineal tears in multigravidas, less Apgar scores <7 after 5 minutes but more perinatal asphyxia. No important differences were observed in the incidence of shoulder dystocia, early neonatal mortality and Erb’s palsy. Due to observational nature of the study it is not possible to draw conclusions on causal relationship between epidural analgesia and observed outcomes. Nevertheless, midwifery and other practitioners can more accurately advise on the use of epidural analgesia based on this research.
|