• Health
  • Science
  • U.S.
  • Technology
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports

Building a Better World

News and information

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team

Study: Epidurals may increase time spent in labor

February 11, 2014 By Contributor

Study: Epidurals may increase time spent in labor

It was already known that the second stage of labor can take longer after an epidural.

A new study finds epidurals may make labor longer than doctors initially thought.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found that some women who received epidural anesthesia during labor took up to two hours longer to deliver their child compared to women who didn’t get the shot.  Doctors are initially taught that women who receive an epidural will take about one hour extra to complete the second stage of labor (pushing), however researchers have found that the shot may increase the time of labor from two to three hours.

“The effects of an epidural can be longer than we think and as long as the baby looks good and the women are making progress, we don’t necessarily have to intervene (and perform a Cesarean section) based on the passage of time,” said Dr. Yvonne Cheng, the study’s lead author and maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF).

Cesarean sections, also known as c-sections, are commonly used when labor has slowed down or if the baby is not progressing naturally through the birth canal.  Today, C-sections are used for about one-third of the baby births in the U.S., about 50 percent more than in the mid 1990s.

The study lead by Cheng compared data from over 42,000 women who delivered children at UCSF between 1976-2008.  Cheng and her team focused specifically on the length of the second stage of labor within the 95th percentile.  This means that 19 out of 20 women would complete the second stage of labor within that time.

The study found that women who had never had children before and were in the 95th percentile took about 3 hours and 20 minutes to complete the second stage of labor with an epidural, as opposed to about 5 hours and 40 minutes for those who didn’t receive the shot.  On the other hand, women who have had children before took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete the second stage without an epidural, compared to about 5 hours and 40 minutes for those who did receive an epidural.

Overall, researchers found that the second stage of labor took about two hours longer at the 95th percentile for women who received an epidural.

Sharing

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Filed Under: Front Page, Health, None, U.S.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Us

Facebookrss

Search:

Recent Posts

  • NASA’s InSight spacecraft makes important course correction May 26, 2018
  • Scientists outraged at latest Trump decision May 15, 2018
  • Huge uproar erupts over major incident at Utah park May 13, 2018
  • Incredible moon discovery stuns scientists May 12, 2018
  • Authorities shocked by discovery about common painkiller May 6, 2018
  • Outrageous crocodile experiment stuns scientists May 5, 2018
  • Great Barrier Reef is too quiet, scientists say May 1, 2018
  • Massive Hiroshima bomb discovery shocks scientists May 1, 2018
  • Earth will be slammed by massive asteroid April 29, 2018
  • Teens are doing something incredibly alarming in schools April 29, 2018
  • Huge discovery in Tasmania stuns scientists April 28, 2018
  • Shocking discovery in New Jersey stuns authorities April 22, 2018
  • Huge volcanic explosion could wipe out the United States April 21, 2018
  • Huge controversy erupts over world’s hottest pepper April 15, 2018
  • SpaceX is about to do something astonishing April 15, 2018

Copyright © 2022 Jones Kilmartin Group, LLC · Metro Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress