Labour epidural analgesia and maternal and neonatal outcome

Background: This study was done to determine the maternal and neonatal outcomes in parturient who were administered with labour epidural analgesia. Primary objectives include the comparison of time to deliver after insertion of the epidural catheter at less than 4 cm and more than 4 cm of cervical dilatation, to determine the requirement of assistance for normal vaginal delivery, and also to determine adverse maternal outcomes. Methods: The study was conducted at Arokya Women’s Centre, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. The data was collected from medical records department, between July 2023 and June 2024. After obtaining written and informed consent, 749 parturient, who were willing for receiving labour epidural analgesia, were included in our study. Results: In our study, majority of the parturient received labour epidural analgesia during their first stage of labour, i.e. less than 4 cm of cervical dilatation. The time to deliver in this age group is found to be more 465.4±393.3 minutes, as compared to those who were provided with labour epidural analgesia during their second stage of labour, 130.4±184, which was statistically significant (p value- 0.000). Conclusions: We conclude that labour epidural analgesia, when administered between 1 and 4 cm of cervical dilatation, was helpful for parturient to have a pain-free, quicker delivery. We also observed that labour epidural did not cause an increased occurrence of post-partum haemorrhage among parturient and NICU admission among neonates.