To study the effect of epidural analgesia on second stage of labor and mode of delivery

Epidural analgesia is regional anaesthesia that blocks pain in a particular region of the body. The use of epidural analgesia (EA) in labor is widespread in modern labor ward practice, and its benefits in terms of pain relief are well-recognized. Aims: To study the effect of epidural analgesia on second stage of labor, maternal and neonatal outcomes and its efficacy in labor. Study Design: This is Prospective Cohort Study was carried at Dr. L. H. Hiranandani Hospital. All the women admitted in labour room for delivery were divided into 2 groups. Case Group: Included 84 women who opted for epidural analgesia. Control Group: Included 90 women who did not take epidural analgesia. Results: The 2nd stage of labor in epidural group was 54.61 (± 37.24) mins and 37.36 (± 26.79) mins in the non epidural analgesia group. By using unpaired t-test, it was found that the data was significant (p=0.032). The incidence of caesarean section in the epidural group was 16.66% and the in non-epidural group was 12.22%. It was observed that epidural analgesia did not increase the rate of instrumental delivery or caesarean section. The mean VAS Score before epidural analgesia was 6.2 (± 1.07) whereas it was 3.95 (± 1.46) after epidural analgesia. On applying Wilcoxon Matched Pair test, it was found that the pain was reduced significantly in the mothers after receiving the epidural analgesia. Conclusion: Epidural analgesia can be safely recommended as a method of labor analgesia. Epidural analgesia has no significant adverse effects on maternal and neonatal outcomes Keywords: Epidural analgesia, VAS – Visual analogue score, 2nd stage of labour, Caesarean sect.