Epidural Side Effects, Epidural Long Term Side Effects
What you might not know about the side effects of epidural that could change your mind about getting one: From epidural headaches to fetal distress, learn what the epidural risks are for you and the baby...
Many women rave about it and complain of no significant epidural side effects. But if you're like me, you may have also heard women who report a variety of mild problems to more serious epidural long term side effects.
Here are just a few side effects I've either witnessed personally or heard a firsthand account of:
Drop in blood pressure requiring medication to elevate it back to a safe level
Extreme itching requiring IV administration of Benadryl
Feelings of panic and anxiety
(All of the above were experienced simultaneously by one of my doula clients)
Numbness extending too high in the body affecting chest and throat muscles with inability to swallow
Spinal headache
Chronic back pain
Here's the experience of one mom who opted for a natural childbirth after her negative experience with an epidural with her previous child:
According to Sheila Kitzinger in The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth, the risks and side effects of epidural anesthesia can depend on factors such as when in the labor it is placed and the type and dosage of the drug cocktail administered.
All women who get an epidural must also consent to:
Continuous fetal monitoring
IV fluids that may cause fluid overload and swelling
Probable bladder catheter
Extremely limited mobility that typically hinders labor progress
Additionally, Kitzinger describes the following risks and side effects to consider:
Tendency to prolong labor, often requiring Pitocin augmentation.
Lowering of blood pressure, sometimes to the degree that fetal distress results and/or additional drugs are needed to raise it back to safe levels.
Elevated body temperature, which may negatively affect baby during labor and/or cause fever in baby, resulting in traumatic septic work-up, antibiotics given and special care nursery stay.
May begin a "cascade of intervention" to deal with problems caused by altering the normal birth sensations and physiology, such as:
Difficulty pushing and/or...
Loss of natural tone of pelvic floor muscles causing malposition of the baby, including deep transverse arrest of the baby's head resulting in...
Increased risk of forceps, vacuum extraction and cesarean section.
Placental transmission of epidural medications into baby causing changes in behavior and alertness that result in decreased suckling ability and possible difficulty with initial and continued breastfeeding.
Finally, epidural long term side effects are rare, but can include chronic back and/or neck pain, migraines and numb skin patches. You will even occasionally hear a tragic story of paralysis or even death caused by a medical error in epidural placement.
, the risks and side effects of epidural anesthesia can depend on factors such as when in the labor it is placed and the type and dosage of the drug cocktail administered. 