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Epidurals can reduce the risk of serious complications in women giving birth All women benefit from epidurals Those at risk for complications or giving birth prematurely benefit most TUESDAY, May 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Women who get an epidural during appear to have a marked reduction in serious complications the first few weeks after giving birth, a new study shows. A painkilling epidural can reduce risk by 35% in women for complications like heart attack, heart failure, blood infection and hysterectomy that can occur as a result of delivery, researchers reported May 22 in the . And the risk declines even more for women with known risk factors for these complications such as obesity, other health problems or prior delivery, researchers said.

For those women, an epidural can reduce their risk of complications by 50%, compared to a 33% risk reduction in those without such factors. And women delivering preterm had a risk reduction of 47%, results show. “Encouraging the adoption of, and enhancing accessibility to, epidural analgesia for women in these higher risk categories could be instrumental in improving maternal health outcomes,” concluded the research team led by , an anesthesiologist with Glasgow Royal University in the U.



K. For the study, researchers analyzed data for more than 567,000 mothers who went into labor between 2007 and 2019. Medical records were used to identify women who developed any of a series of 21 complications known as severe maternal morbidit.

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