Epidural

Epidural is a procedure to inject a pain killer to a woman who is experiencing severe labor pains. The medication numbs the body from the belly button below. Epidural is normally given to women who are going to deliver a cesarean case or women who face extreme pains while expecting a baby.

The epidural injection given to the woman is an anesthetic which is quite similar the one a dentist would use. However, the amount of epidural depends on the case the doctors are dealing with. If it is a cesarean case, the dosage will be very strong as the place below the breast has to be numbed.

Epidural Procedure

When a woman needs an epidural, the nurse will administer an I.V. which allows half of the liquid to enter the body. This is a precautionary measure taken to prevent the woman from getting low blood pressures. Blood pressure equipment is also attached to the woman getting an epidural so that the blood pressure can be constantly monitored.

• Another monitoring device also monitors any fetal change and reports back what effect the epidural is having on the fetus
• When the procedure for administering the epidural starts the woman lies on the bed on her side or she could be sitting down in any position which is comfortable to her
• She will have her back arched like a cat has its back arched when it is angry
• The doctor will numb the area where two spinal vertebrate meet and insert a long injection into her back

Risk Involved in Giving Epidural

The process of giving an epidural is very complicated and may cause many life threatening issues if anything goes wrong. The doctor in charge of the procedure will have some tests conducted on you to see that everything has gone well.

• While the epidural is being injected, you have to be very still even if this means you have a contraction
• The injection has to go past the two ligaments and needs to be injected onto the membrane covering the spinal cord
• Sometimes, the injection is drawn back to see if blood comes along with the pull back

This whole procedure normally takes an hour or so, from the start of the process to the time that the anesthetic takes its effect.