A recent report published in the International Breastfeeding
Journal, detailed finding that Mothers-to-be might want to reconsider
having epidurals in order to relieve labor pains.
Do Epidurals affect breastfeeding?
Researchers in Sydney studied 1280 women who had babies between
March and October in 1997.
416 women had epidurals. 172 of those women had Caesarean sections
with pain-killing medication.
It was found that mothers that choose an epidural to relieve labor
pains had a greater chance of problems in the first week after birth
making it more likely that they would stop breastfeeding their babies
sooner.
There is a question that the chemicals, bupivacaine and fentanyl,
present in epidurals may have an adverse affect on the unborn
babies.
It seems possible that these drugs enter the bloodstream and cross
into the placenta to reach the fetus affecting the unborn infants'
brains. The baby becomes sleepy and less inclined to breastfeed.
Dr Siranda Torvaldsen, team leader, stated that there was a growing
body of evidence to show that "the fentanyl component of
epidurals may be associated with sleepy infants and difficulty in
establishing breastfeeding."
Dr. Torvaldsen stated that some newborn babies had lost their
"sucking co-ordination" if the mother had an intra-muscular injection
of the pethidine in the last half hour of a normal delivery.
Ninety three per cent of the women who were studied breastfed
their babies in the first week. Only 53% of those who had received
epidurals or pethidine continued to breastfeed as apposed to 75% of
those who had no analgesia were still breastfeeding at six
months..
These findings may compel physicians and patients to reconsider using
epidurals.
Pat O'Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
agreed that there was a possibility of fentanyl affecting an infant,
but he continued that other factors too may explain this link,
One reason for some women preferring to bottle-feed rather than
breastfeed could be the fact that it is difficult for a mother to lift
the weight of a baby after having a C section.
There are obvious benefits to having an epidural and the findings
merit further investigation.
Dr. Sue Jordan, Swansea University, regards the effect of opioids and
epidurals on breastfeeding as "an adverse drug
reaction".
There is definitely a lack of research into how epidural drugs affect
newborns.
Some known adverse side effects of epidurals on the mother are lower blood
pressure, a slower then normal birth process and greater chances of
having a forceps delivery.
Women should be made aware of these effects when considering their
options for labor.
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