While it has long been known that an epidural in labor increases the risk of fever (>100.4 degrees Fahrenheit), a new study in the Journal Pediatrics shows that this fever is associated with problems with the newborn. With this study 19% of mothers who had an epidural for pain relief in labor had a fever, whereas only about 2% of mothers who chose to go natural had a fever in labor. (This is after controlling for known disease, infection and problems with the baby, including preterm birth.)
The researchers looked for and measured the following problems with the newborns:
- low muscle tone (hypotonia)
- low Apgar scores (1 and 5 minutes)
- assisted breathing after birth
- early onset neonatal seizures
The researchers found that these outcomes were two to six times more likely with maternal fever in labor. The likelihood of problems was increased with an increase in the actual fever, so the higher the fever, the more likely the problems were. Other studies have indicated that maternal fever is more likely the longer you have an epidural.
So for mothers who are on the fence about epidurals, this might help you decide that you want to forego the epidural. Though if you have already decided that you'd like to use an epidural perhaps what you can think about is how to delay the epidural as long as possible, which would reduce the risk of fever and therefore fever related problems with the baby.
What are your thoughts on the topic?
Related:
Source:
Greenwell, E. A., Wyshak, G., Ringer, S. A., Johnson, L. C., Rivkin, M. J., & Lieberman, E. (2012). Intrapartum Temperature Elevation, Epidural Use, and Adverse Outcome in Term Infants. Pediatrics, 129(2), e447-e454. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-2301
Epidural Related Fever in Labor Associated with Problems in Babies originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 10:08:45.
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