Delaying pushing in labour has no benefit for women with an epidural and/or spinal for pain relief

For women having their first baby with an epidural and/or spinal anaesthetic for pain-relief, the timing of pushing after full dilatation of the cervix does not affect the numbers that achieve normal vaginal delivery. The best management for the second stage of labour is still debated. In the UK epidurals are by far the most widely used regional anaesthetic technique for pain relief in labour. In this large trial, women either pushed immediately or delayed pushing by waiting for 60 minutes. Women in the immediate group ended up pushing for slightly longer, but their labour was 30 minutes shorter overall. They also had a lower risk of bleeding and infection. Although this was a USA-based study the findings may help to inform practice in the UK.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news