What Are The Side Effects Of Epidurals? Can Chiropractic Make Labor And Delivery Easier?
A study published in the March 2014 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that women who get epidurals to relieve pain actually increase the time of the second stage of labor by an average of two hours. This new finding shows that epidurals extend labor much longer than the one hour that was previously believed to be the extension due to the procedure.
The study sampled 42,000 women who delivered their children in San Francisco between 1976 and 2008. Approximately half of the women in this study received an epidural while the other half did not.
The results showed that 95% of women who did not have the epidural and were having their first child got through the pushing stage within 3 hours and 20 minutes. In contrast, 95% of the women who had the epidural took five hours and 40 minutes before delivering their babies.
An article in Mail Online on February 7, 2014, reported on the study. In that article, Dr Christopher Glantz, a high-risk pregnancy specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York, warned that longer labor can lead to more complications and more intervention.
Study author Yvonne W. Cheng, MD, PhD, from the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, noted, “Minimizing primary cesarean delivery is a priority.” She continued, “Two common indications of cesarean during labor are active phase arrest and arrest of descent.”
The study authors point out that this new finding shows that the extra time falls within the window of what doctors have considered extended time suggesting medical intervention. “Although the majority of obstetrician–gynecologists subscribe to the clinical guidelines of giving 1 additional hour to account for epidural use, it appears that the differences from epidural at the 95th percentiles may be approximately double,” the study authors write. “Thus, the current definition of prolonged second stage of labor may be too stringent.”
Lead author Dr. Cheng summed up this issue by saying, “When epidural is used, it may be normal for labor to take two hours longer, and physicians don’t necessarily have to intervene, as long as women are progressing and the baby is OK. Although the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists specifically says that the doctor doesn’t have to intervene based on the passage of time alone, it is still kind of a gray zone.”
Did you know chiropractic adjustments can result in easier pregnancy and significantly decreased labor times? It also helps assist mothers return to prepartum health. In one study, women receiving chiropractic care through their first pregnancy had 24% shorter labor times than the group not receiving chiropractic, and multiparous subjects reported 39% shorter labor times. Thirty-nine percent-that’s a massive difference. In addition, 84% of women report relief of back pain during pregnancy with chiropractic care.
To see if chiropractic care can help with your pregnancy, call (512) 452-2525 to schedule today.
More information about Chiropractic and Pregnancy / Case Studies.