Does Labor Epidural Cause A Rise In Maternal Temperature? An Observational Study At A Tertiary Care Hospital Of A Developing Country

Background and Objective: There has been a concern regarding maternal hyperthermia with labor epidural in developed countries. This study aimed to determine the frequency of rise in maternal temperature after labor epidural placement in a tertiary care hospital of a developing country. Materials and Methods: After approval from the institutional ethics review committee and informed consent, this observational cohort study was conducted on 494 nulliparous women fulfilling the inclusion criteria and requesting labor epidural. Maternal temperature was recorded by a standardized method soon before institution of labor epidural (baseline temperature) and then hourly after its placement for up to 6 h maximum or till delivery. Neonatal outcome was observed by recording Apgar score at 1 and 5 min and intensive care admissions. Results: There was a steady rise of mean temperature from baseline (36.26 +/- 0.31), each hour after institution of labor epidural. The percentage of patients showing a rise in temperature increased each hour from 45% in first hour to more than 56% in the sixth hour. The temperature of >= 37.5 degrees C was considered as hyperthermia and was observed in four patients (0.81%). The median temperature difference was not statistically significant within time point (P > 0.05). Apgar scores of newborns born to mothers with hyperthermia were 8 at 1 min and 9 at 5 min with no intensive care admissions. Conclusion: Frequency of maternal hyperthermia was found to be low compared to the incidence reported from developed countries, most probably due to difference in obstetric practice and patients demographics.