Increased Use Of Forceps

Epidural analgesia decreases your ability to push effectively and approximately doubles the chances that you will have a forceps or vacuum assisted delivery. Asking for your epidural analgesia to be turned down before you start to push may increase your chances of being able to push effectively and avoid a forceps delivery.

Fever

Choosing epidural analgesia quadruples your risk of developing a fever during labor. Although most experts don't believe the fever is related to infection, you may end up being given antibiotics during labor. The longer you have the epidural, the more likely you are to have a fever.

Inadequate Pain Control

About 9-15 percent of women still have significant pain despite epidural analgesia. While this can sometimes be treated by giving additional medication, or by replacing the epidural catheter, pain control cannot be achieved in all women.

Itching

Up to 26 percent of women with epidural analgesia will have itching, which is usually treated with IV medication.

Rare Side Effects

There is a small risk that the anesthetist may puncture the sac covering the spinal cord, causing spinal fluid to leak out. This can result in a severe headache that may be difficult to treat.

Myths About Epidural Analgesia

One of the big myths about epidural analgesia is that it is responsible for chronic back pain. But studies have found instead that pregnancy it self is responsible for back pain. Women who have back pain during pregnancy are more likely to have back pain after they have delivered. While you may have a sore spot and a small bruise on your back after epidural analgesia, choosing epidural analgesia does not place you at higher risk for long term back pain. A second popular myth is that it will affect your ability to breastfeed. However, most studies have not found that epidural analgesia affects ultimate breastfeeding success. Your baby is much more likely to be sedated after large doses of narcotics given by injection, than from the small amount of narcotics used in epidural analgesia.

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