Epidurals can reduce risk of serious childbirth-related complications such as sepsis and heart attacks by more than a third, study shows By Kate Pickles Published: 18:30 EDT, 22 May 2024 | Updated: 19:23 EDT, 22 May 2024 e-mail View comments Epidurals can reduce the risk of serious childbirth-related complications for mothers by more than a third, a study has found. Women who had the pain relief injection were far less likely to suffer conditions such as sepsis and heart attacks during labour and in the following weeks. The findings suggest that making epidurals more widely available could help to reverse a rising UK trend of deaths and injuries on maternity wards.
Researchers studied 567,216 women who were in labour in Scottish NHS hospitals from 2007 and 2019, who gave birth vaginally or by an unplanned caesarean. Of these, 125,024 had an epidural – an anaesthetic injection in the back. The study, led by Glasgow and Bristol universities, found having the jab cut the risk of potentially life-threatening conditions by 35 per cent.
Epidurals can reduce the risk of serious childbirth-related complications for mothers by more than a third, a study has found The findings suggest that making epidurals more widely available could help to reverse a rising UK trend of deaths and injuries on maternity wards They were also more effective in women who went into labour prematurely, or had previous medical or obstetric conditions. Lead author Professor Rachel Kearns, of Glasgow Universi.
