Authors

1Nicolás Fernández García, 2Salud Ávalos Giménez, 3Miriam Orellana Reyes, 3María Martín Martín

Position

1 Máster en Investigación, Gestión y Calidad en Cuidados para la Salud por la Universidad de La Laguna. Matrona. Hospital General de La Palma. Tenerife.2 Enfermera. Hospital General de La Palma. Tenerife.3 Matrona. Hospital General de La Palma. Tenerife

Contact address

Nicolás Fernández García. C/ Buenavista de Arriba, s/n. 38713 Breña Alta. Isla de La Palma (Tenerife).

Contact email: nicolafg2001@yahoo.com

Abstract

Objective: to assess the impact of epidural anaesthesia on duration and type of labour, and on the weight and Apgar Score of newborn infants, in those births occurred during the first three years (2010-2013) of availability of this type of analgesia in the Hospital General de La Palma.
Materials and method: retrospective cohort study with a group of women who used epidural anaesthesia (Group WITH, n= 258), and another group who did not (Group WITHOUT, n= 1191). Outcome variables: duration of the period of the active dilation phase of labour; duration of the expulsive period of labour; type of labour; weight of the newborn infant (NI) and Apgar Test Score for the NI. Student’s t-test and Square Chi Test were used for hypothesis testing.
Results: the mean time needed by women in the Group WITH to complete the active phase of dilation was 385 minutes (vs 207 minutes needed by the Group WITHOUT), completing the expulsive phase in 72 minutes as a mean time (vs 37 minutes by the Group WITHOUT). There were 58% normal deliveries in the Group WITH, vs. 83.6% in the Group WITHOUT (p= 0.000).
Conclusions: results showed a significant increase in duration for the active phase of labour and expulsive period in both groups; and an increase in instrumental labours and Caesarean births among nulliparous women who used epidural anaesthesia, though without any impact or association with Apgar Test Scores or newborn weight in either group. Women must be informed before labour, so that they can make informed decisions regarding the type of analgesia they prefer to use during labour.

Keywords:

Epidural analgesia; Caesarean birth; labour pains; obstetric labour; researchcohort study

Versión en Español

Título:

Impacto de la anestesia epidural en la duración y tipo de parto, peso y Apgar del recién nacido