PAINLESS DELIVERY YES OR NO?

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PAINLESS DELIVERY YES OR NO?

Journal Title: Medicinski Casopis - Year 2014, Vol 48, Issue 4

Abstract

Contemporary obstetrics aims to achieve painless delivery, whereby the life of the mother or fetus would not be compromised. Epidural analgesia is nowadays considered to be the method of choice for the labor pain relief. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the basic principles and techniques of performing epidural analgesia, its specificities for women in labor, its effects on the mother and fetus, as well as the dilemmas that accompany this method. The specificities of epidural anesthesia in pregnant women, such as soft tissue edema, increased weight, changes in texture ligaments, lumbar lordosis and engorgement of epidural veins, make it more difficult to perform the epidural block in pregnancy. The most important misconception is the influence of epidural analgesia on operative or instrumental delivery rate. Low concentrations of local anesthetic in combination with small doses of opioids, together with active management of labor by an obstetrician, would lead to increased spontaneous delivery rate. Epidural analgesia is currently the most effective and the safest method of anesthesia delivery.

Authors and Affiliations

Jelena Trifunovic Kubat, Mirjana Varjacic

Keywords

Analgesia Epidural Labor Obstetric Labor pain Risk Factors

EP ID EP116932
DOI 10.5937/mckg48-5622
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