Very often the natural process of childbirth takes place with a number of complications. To significantly alleviate the pain, the parturient can be injected with an "epidural". Let's figure out what the procedure is and what its contraindications are, what feelings the woman has after the insertion of the catheter and whether this is all so effective. When we talk about epidural anesthesia, there are many questions: Does it really hurt when the needle with anesthetic enters the spine? Can the medicine not work? At what point is the best time to receive epidural anesthesia? To all this there are answers which are better to know before to face this procedure personally. While epidural anesthesia gives the desired relief of pain, there are several points that you probably want to know if you are thinking about applying this type of analgesia in delivery. Epidural (neuroaxial analgesia) during delivery is salvation, but everything is not as simple as it seems. Together with the epidural, you will also have a urinary catheter, after all, after the epidural anesthesia is placed in the back, you can not walk. This will protect your bladder. The catheter can prevent bladder and vaginal injuries during labor and caesarean section because an empty bladder facilitates the passage of the baby.

During caesarean section, in particular, the catheter allows anesthetists to monitor urine levels. Epidural (and spinal) drugs can lead to bladder stretch or problems with urination. So, the catheter protects against injuries and damages and helps to monitor the situation of the bladder. It's pretty fast. The procedure for epidural anesthesia is usually a relatively fast process - usually taking 20 to 30 minutes. When after a short time the effect of the medicine comes, the patients feel a great relief of pain and are glad that there is an opportunity to rest after exhausting and painful contractions. It almost does not hurt The procedure assumes that you are sitting on the edge of the bed or lying on your side. You are injected with lidocaine in the back, this area will first hurt, and after it stops. After that, you probably just feel the pressure when inserting the epidural catheter. Most patients tolerate the drug well. You numb limbs, you can not get up and go after anesthesia. Epidural anesthesia is a sterile procedure. Therefore, most often doctors ask accompanying mothers to leave the premises to avoid infection. Not all are allowed this type of anesthesia Almost all women can take neuroaxial analgesia. There are only a few absolute contraindications: Tumor of the brain or other health condition that increases the pressure in the brain; Infection in the location of the needle; Low platelets (often observed in people with preeclampsia or other diseases); Taking anticoagulant medications you can get it at any time. If a woman knows that her pain threshold is very low, she must agree in advance with the doctors about the use of epidural anesthesia.

The only problem is that for the present it is not allowed in all maternity hospitals. In the United States and other developed countries, almost every woman in childbirth has the right to receive this anesthesia. Due to this, there is a low rate of deaths in parturient women. In general, it can be said that epidural anesthesia is a personal choice, influenced by the physical, cultural, socio-economic and emotional factors of an individual woman.

inform-ua. info.

Keywords:.