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Epidurals Linked to Breastfeeding Difficulties

by kate baggott on December 11th, 2006

If you’ve just given birth and you’re having trouble breastfeeding, it could be a short lived problem related to the epidural.

The Times, via the Unison.ie news portal (registration required) reported that women who have epidurals during labour are more likely to have problems breastfeeding. Researchers from Sydney University studied 1280 women who had recently given birth. 416 of them had epidurals.

• The researchers found that 93% of the women breast-fed their baby in the first week but that those who had epidurals experienced more difficulty in the few days immediately after birth. After six months, 72% of women who had not received painkillers were breast-feeding, compared with 53% of those who had been given epidurals.The most likely cause of the problem was fentanyl, an opioid drug used as a component of epidurals.

  Such drugs cross easily into the placenta and the unborn baby, the study suggests.

  If confirmed, such research could force a rethink over the use of such drugs, which appear to impair infants’ development and co-ordination in the crucial days after birth.

Two points aren’t mentioned in the article that I think need to be emphasized.

First of all, women who don’t have epidurals (like me) tend to be a little more granola than women who want them. Someone comfortable experiencing the natural pain of childbirth is generally pretty comfortable with the natural nursing process (mostly because it hurts a lot less).

Secondly, just because you have a breastfeeding problem a few days in, does not mean that you will continue to have that problem even a few hours later. Infants have very quick metabolisms, that’s why they pee and poop. Drugs do clear their systems and may just need a little help to get started on the breast. Babies who are born very quickly vaginally and babies born by c-section also need a little extra time to work on nursing and they don’t suffer long term consequences.

Again, the choice is not to have an epidural and give up breastfeeding or to go completely natural to breastfeed. Problems happen and they can seem to go on for a lot longer than they really do. As with anything related to new parenthood, the answer is generally to learn a little patience and keep trying. If you need some help with the additional stuff, you might just check out Breastfeeding 1-2-3.

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POSTED IN: Breastfeeding