EPIDURAL ANALGESIA AND BREASTFEEDING

Epidural analgesia was associated with shorter breastfeeding duration in a study conducted in Western Australia of 484 primiparous women with spontaneous vaginal births. Similarly, a study undertaken in Lapland of 64 primiparous women with spontaneous vaginal births found women who had epidural analgesia were more likely to be either partially breastfeeding or formula feeding at 12 weeks postpartum than women who had not had epidural analgesia.

Partial breastfeeding in the first week may be indicative of difficulty establishing breastfeeding and is important because these women are at increased risk of stopping breastfeeding altogether. Two-thirds of the women who were partially breastfeeding in the first week were not breastfeeding at all by 24 weeks, compared with only one third of women who were fully breastfeeding in the first week.  

Nulliparous women have a high use of epidural analgesia in labour. Nulliparous women who choose epidural analgesia are more likely to breastfeed for shorter durations.

 

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