Epidural during labor linked to abnormal head position

Receiving epidural analgesia during labor seems to increase the risk that the baby will be delivered face up instead of the normal face -down position, new research shows. This may explain the higher rate of c-sections associated with epidurals.

It has been theorized that women with infants in the face-up or “occiput posterior” position have more painful labors, which leads to their request for epidural analgesia. However, in the current study, reported in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, the researchers found that it was, in fact, more likely that the epidural was administered before a fetus moved into this position.

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