Written By: Debjani Arora | Published : October 17, 2017 6:24 PM IST
Image credits by: Epidural can help to experience painless delivery. © Shutterstock
Epidural anaesthesia is one of the most common forms of pain relief given to a pregnant woman during labour. Most women who give birth vaginally prefer to take an epidural to counter labour pains. This type of pain relief is a boon to many women who have low pain threshold and still want to give birth vaginally. In an epidural, an injection is given on the mother s spine to numb the pain while the uterus contracts and expels the baby out of the womb. Know how a spinal anaesthesia is different from epidural.
How does an epidural work?
In an epidural anaesthesia, a thick needle is placed in the spine and guided towards the epidural space. A thin tube (catheter) is passed inside the needle into the epidural space and the needle is then taken out. The catheter remains in the spine (epidural space) and is taped to the skin. Medication is then injected into the epidural catheter to numb the lower part of the body. Since medication is not directly injected into the spinal fluid, more of it is needed to achieve numbness as compared to what would have needed with spinal anaesthesia. Full numbness is achieved within 20 minutes after injecting the epidural. Here is what you should expect during an epidural during labour.
In general, there are no side effects of epidural but remember that every medical procedure has side effects. Though minimal, here are a few side effects of epidural anaesthesia:
Other than these there aren t any noted symptoms of epidural anaesthesia during labour.
Inputs from Dr Mohamed Mansoor, Consultant, Anaesthesiologist, Motherhood Hospitals.
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