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Epidurals can make labour last two hours LONGER than without pain relief

  • It was already known that the second stage of labour can take longer after an epidural – but new research suggests it extends it even further
  • Without an epidural, most first time mothers deliver within 3 hours 20 mins
  • With an epidural, it can take up to 5 hours 40 minutes, say researchers
  • In the UK, this stage of labour is not allowed continue for more than three hours – so doctors start to consider intervening after two hours

By
Emma Innes


PUBLISHED:

08:01 EST, 7 February 2014

|
UPDATED:

08:12 EST, 7 February 2014

It is known that having an epidural increases the time it takes for a woman to deliver her baby.

But new research suggests it may prolong the birth for longer than originally believed.

U.S. researchers found some women who are given an epidural during labour take more than two hours longer to deliver their child than women who don’t get the pain relief.

Having an epidural can increase the amount of time it takes a woman to push out her baby by up to two hours

‘The effect of 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 Caesarean section] based on the passage of time,’ lead author Dr Yvonne Cheng, from the University of California, San Francisco, said.

Dr Cheng, who reported her findings in the journal Obstetrics and Gynaecology, says doctors were traditionally taught that women who receive an epidural will take about an hour extra to push their baby out.

This is because they are unable to feel when they have a contraction and find it hard to feel if they are pushing effectively due to the numbness the epidural causes.

For her research, she compared data from more than 42,000 women who delivered their children in San Francisco between 1976 and 2008. 

About half of these women received an epidural while the other half did not.

Dr Cheng and her colleagues discovered that 95 per cent of women who were having their first child got through the pushing stage within three hours and 20 minutes if they had not had an epidural.

In contrast, for those who had had an epidural, it was five hours and 40 minutes before 95 per cent of women had delivered their babies.

Some 95 per cent of women having their first child get through the pushing stage within three hours and 20 minutes if they have not had an epidural. For those who have an epidural, it can take five hours 40 minutes

For women who had previously had a child, 95 per cent without an epidural had delivered their baby within hour and 20 minutes of beginning to push.

For those who had had an epidural, the figure was four hours and 15 minutes.

Overall, the researchers found the second stage of labour took about two hours longer when women had an epidural.

For women who have a more typical, quicker, delivery the epidural probably adds less time, Dr Karin Fox, from the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, told Reuters Health.

Dr Christopher Glantz, a high-risk pregnancy specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York, cautioned that although the health of babies in the epidural and non-epidural groups was similar, mothers tended to have more complications if they had longer labours.

‘It would appear that the upper limit of what can be tolerated is greater than what was previously thought, which takes away some of the impetus to intervene (with C-section) in what appears to be a premature fashion,’ he said.

In the UK, a woman who is having her first baby is expected to give birth within three hours of the start of the second stage of labour.

As a result, if birth is not imminent after two hours, doctors will consider intervening.

If a woman has previously had a baby, she is expected to give birth within two hours so intervention is considered after an hour.

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Comments (13)

what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

HawksMomma,

Eastern Indiana, United States,

9 minutes ago

I had no epidural or drugs of any kind and pushed less than 15 minutes with my first child. Epidurals don’t work the same on every woman, for some they don’t work at all, for some they can’t feel to push or their body makes weaker contractions so doctors give them pitocin. Many get horribly headaches after or have back pain for the rest of their life. I’ll take Natural any day over the long lasting effects of drugs.

jade,

oz,

21 minutes ago

Well after 15 hours of agony then a epidural i know I would have had it earlier if I could! I have birth 9 hours later and the thought of having to endure that much pain for another say 7 hours (if they are correct) is crazy!!! That’s why I had a epidural straigt after being induced with my last child and had the most relaxing pain free labour ever!

Georgina,

Anywhere_buthere, United Kingdom,

49 minutes ago

The epidural ONLY stops the pain of labour. You still have contractions which can be felt. I would rather have an epidural and a pain free labour that lasts 2 hours longer than a painful delivery which can last for 11 hours plus.

moeisme,

Duke, United States,

50 minutes ago

As long as it is safe for the baby and mother, there really is no reason not to. I had one with and epidural and 2 without. Just for the record, my epidural baby was born faster than the other two.

roll on friday,

bramley, United Kingdom,

51 minutes ago

I had an epidural with two of my children after being induced, one labour lasted 4 hours and one 2 hours, I was completely in control and could feel my contractions and knew when to push on both occasions. My first child born without induction or epidural lasted 32 hours.

userpete86,

IrvineCA, United States,

29 minutes ago

Imagine if each of those took two hours less: Instant baby on that second one!

lindyevans,

springfield-il,

57 minutes ago

Feminists wanted abortion on demand, but didn’t want women to have children, so the natural childbirth movement was started. Who wants to go throught all that pain when it is not necessary? The new idea is that if a woman decides to go through with the pregnancy, insurance isn’t going to pay for any pain relief. If a woman is going to give birth, she should suffer. Follow the money. Talk about a war on women!!!

Quinn,

New York,

1 hour ago

I gave birth with no epidural. Next time I’d rather go an extra two hours thank you very much.

Georgina,

Anywhere_buthere, United Kingdom,

44 minutes ago

Totally agree with you. If I could have had an epidural with my second child I would’ve. No pain but still being able to feel movement and the contractions so you know what your body is doing. (First child – epidural after 18 hours of none productive labour, then bliss). Really recommended.

laoh,

Lancs, United Kingdom,

32 minutes ago

This made me laugh. Very much agree with you though!

Nick,

Lincoln, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

NHS want to save money and this is the best they can come up with?

SP,

Surrey, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

I already know this, surely if you cannot feel half of your body and only pushing when the midwife tells you too then you are not doing what your body is telling you to at the right time.

Georgina,

Anywhere_buthere, United Kingdom,

48 minutes ago

The epidural ONLY stops the pain of labour. You still have contractions which can be felt. I would rather have an epidural and a pain free labour that lasts 2 hours longer than a painful delivery which can last for 11 hours plus. And yes I have experienced both!!

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