Int J Obstet Anesth. 2004 Jan;13(1):25-9.
Related Articles,  Links
  
Breast-feeding problems after epidural analgesia for labour: a retrospective
cohort study of pain, obstetrical procedures and breast-feeding practices.

Volmanen P, Valanne J, Alahuhta S.

Department of Anaesthesiology, Lapland Central Hospital, Rovaniemi, Finland.
[log in to unmask]

Various clinical practices have been found to be associated with
breast-feeding problems. However, little is known about the effect of pain,
obstetrical procedures and analgesia on breast-feeding behaviour. We
designed a retrospective study with a questionnaire concerning pain,
obstetrical procedures and breast-feeding practices mailed to 164 primiparae
in Lapland. Altogether 99 mothers (60%) returned completed questionnaires
that could be included in the analysis, which was carried out in two steps.
Firstly, all accepted questionnaires were grouped according to the success
or failure to breast-feed fully during the first 12 weeks of life. Secondly,
an ad hoc cohort study was performed on the sub-sample of 64 mothers
delivered vaginally. As many as 44% of the 99 mothers reported partial
breast feeding or formula feeding during the first 12 weeks. Older age of
the mother, use of epidural analgesia and the problem of "not having enough
milk" were associated with the failure to breast-feed fully. Caesarean
section, other methods of labour analgesia and other breast-feeding problems
were not associated with partial breast feeding or formula feeding. In the
sub-sample, 67% of the mothers who had laboured with epidural analgesia and
29% of the mothers who laboured without epidural analgesia reported partial
breast feeding or formula feeding (P = 0.003). The problem of "not having
enough milk" was more often reported by those who had had epidural
analgesia. Further studies conducted prospectively are needed to establish
whether a causal relationship exists between epidural analgesia and
breast-feeding problems.

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html