Healthcare professionals often recommend epidurals to those women who are at higher risk for severe maternal morbidity (SMM)- the serious complications in the first few weeks after giving birth. This includes heart failure, heart attack, hysterectomy and sepsis. According to a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Glasgow and the University of Bristol, having an epidural during labor effectively reduces the of SMM. Â
This study was published in The BMJ. In this study, researchers used data from the Scottish National Health Service. They involved 567,216 mothers who gave birth between 2007 and 2019. These women had an average age of 29 and 93% of them were white. They delivered babies normally or through unplanned cesarean sections. They used medical records to identify any of the 21 conditions that are defined as SMM by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also considered some factors like the mother’s age, body weight, smoking history and gestation age. Â
When researchers observed the collected data, they found that 22% (125,024) women out of the involved women had an epidural during their labor. They also found that epidurals reduced the risk of SMM by 35%. The risk was reduced even greater for women with a medical reason for an epidural and for women delivering premature baby as it was 50% and 47% respectively. On the other hand, they did not find any evidence of reduced risk for women delivering at term or post-term. Also, 19,061 women who received an epidural during labor had a higher risk of SMM. Researchers think this may be due to them not understanding the benefits of an epidural. Â
This was an observational study. So, researchers are not sure if epidurals can reduce the risk of SMM. But they have concluded that healthcare professionals should recommend epidurals to women with known risk factors such as some health conditions, obesity or expecting more than one baby. This study will help healthcare professionals to make some effective strategies to reduce the risk of SMM. Â
Reference Link:Â
Epidural analgesia during labour and severe maternal morbidity: population based study, The BMJ (2024). Â
