A recent study has been published that has linked the use of an epidural during delivery with a greater risk to the baby at birth including poor muscle tone, breathing difficulties and low Apgar scores. Mother's should be informed of the study so that they can make a decision as it relates to their birthing plan and try to avoid any birthing injuries.

In the United States, more than 4 million women give birth every year and 60 percent of them receive epidurals, according to the study. An epidural is sometimes given to mothers in labor to help ease the pain of child birth. The epidural is an anesthesia delivered into the epidural space around the spinal cord, to numb the pain.

This study involved 3,200 women delivering full-term babies at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2000. More than 87 percent of the women had epidurals, which is higher than the national average. What they found is that mother's who develop an epidural-related fever while in labor, could experience problems with their babies.

The results concluded that approximately 19 percent of those that had an epidural developed a temperature higher than 100.4 degrees compared with just 2.4 percent of women who went without the epidural. The higher the temperature, the more likely the baby would experience problems.

Researchers did take into account other factors that could affect the baby's health at birth including whether the mother had gestational diabetes, age of the mother, how long she was in labor or if the mother had a known infection, like a intrauterine infection. According to the researchers, they feel that the data shows that approximately 20 percent of the full-term infants born to mothers, who received an epidural, experienced one more adverse outcome after birth. Also, women who were numb for more than six hours were more likely to develop a fever. For women who didn't develop a fever, the study found no difference in the outcomes for the babies from women who had an epidural versus those who didn't.

While mothers shouldn't panic too much if they decide to have an epidural, they should be made of aware of the findings and make an informed decision. If you are worried about the possibility of this, you might want to delay the epidural for as long as you can to reduce your risk.

Source: U.S. News & World Report, "Epidural Plus Fever in Mom May Raise Risks for Baby," Jenifer Goodwin, Feb. 3, 2012