Does applying epidural analgesia during delivery delay breast-feeding?
Ali Bestemi Kepekci11Health Occupation High-School Anesthesia, Yeni Yuzyil University, Istanbul, Turke
Objectives: In recent years, more pregnant women have been demanding pain relief during delivery. The type of delivery or the method of analgesia applied can affect the duration of breastfeeding. This study aimed to estimate the relationship between women who received Epidural Analgesia during labor and breastfeeding early and after. Methods: In this retrospective study, vaginal deliveries in our hospital in Istanbul between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019 are included.The patients were evaluated in two groups as women undergoing Epidural Analgesia during labor and women without Epidural Analgesia. Mother's age, father's age was obtained from a prenatal survey. Parity, gestational week, birth weight, duration of labor, satisfaction status were obtained from obstetric records. Data on the nutritional status of the baby and breastfeeding problems within the first 24 hours after birth were obtained from the breastfeeding history form. Nutritional status and breastfeeding problems were obtained from the policlinic records in the 4th week after birth. Nutritional status was classified into three types as breastfeeding only, formula feeding or mixed nutrition. The causes of babies fed formula are listed. The relationship between Epidural Analgesia during labor and breastfeeding was investigated. Statistical significance was accepted as p <0,05. The degree of correlation between the variables was calculated using Spearman's correlation test. Results: 754 women who met the working conditions were included in the study and 124 of them were found to have Epidural Analgesia. A positive correlation was found between women who received Epidural Analgesia and the time of first breastfeeding (p <0,05). There was no significant difference between the two patient groups in terms of nutritional types and breastfeeding problems (p> 0,05). Conclussion: The first breastfeeding times of the babies of the mothers who underwent epidural analgesia were significantly earlier. Expanding the application of Epidural Analgesia during labor can contribute to early initiation of breastfeeding in newborns. Keywords: Breastfeeding, epidural analgesia, labor, pregnant, newborn, vaginal deliver
Cite This Article
Kepekci A. Does applying epidural analgesia during delivery delay breast-feeding?. EJMI. 2020; 4(3): 395-400
Corresponding Author: Ali Bestemi Kepekci