Epidurals can reduce risk of serious childbirth-related complications such as sepsis and heart attacks by more than a third, study shows
Epidurals can reduce the risk of serious birth-related complications for mothers by more than a third, a study has found.
Women who received the pain-relieving injection were much less likely to suffer from conditions such as blood poisoning and heart attacks during childbirth and in the following weeks.
The findings suggest that making epidurals more widely available could help reverse the UK’s rising trend of deaths and injuries on maternity wards.
Researchers studied 567,216 women in labor in Scotland’s NHS hospitals between 2007 and 2019 who gave birth vaginally or by unplanned caesarean section. Of these, 125,024 received an epidural – an anesthetic injection in the back.
The study, led by the universities of Glasgow and Bristol, found the jab reduced the risk of potentially life-threatening conditions by 35 percent.
Epidurals can reduce the risk of serious birth-related complications for mothers by more than a third, a study has found
The findings suggest that making epidurals more widely available could help reverse the UK’s rising trend of deaths and injuries on maternity wards.
They were also more effective in women whose labor started prematurely, or who had a previous medical or obstetric condition.
Lead author Professor Rachel Kearns from the University of Glasgow said: ‘This underlines the need to ensure access to epidurals, especially for those who are most vulnerable: women who face higher medical risks or premature labor.
“By widening access and raising awareness, we can ensure safer birth experiences.”
The study, published in the BMJ, comes a week after a parliamentary inquiry found that maternity care needed a radical shake-up, and a survey earlier this year found that deaths during childbirth are at the same rate as they were two decades ago .