Women who have epidurals find it harder to breast-feed

[hulababy]

...according to a report in The Sunday Times today.

WOMEN who give birth with the aid of pain-relieving epidurals find it harder to breast-feed than those who give birth naturally, a study has found.

The research suggests that some of the drugs used in epidurals make their way into babies? bloodstreams, subtly affecting their brains and development for weeks afterwards ? including making them less willing to breast-feed.

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In a commentary on the research, published today, one expert suggests the impact of epidurals on breast-feeding should be officially classed as an ?adverse drug reaction?.

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Such a link could help explain why many British women fail to breast-feed, with 55% giving up within six weeks of birth. More than a third of women give up within a week, saying their babies simply refuse to breast-feed.

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Other researchers support Torvaldsen?s findings. A study at Toronto University, Canada, of 177 women found they were less likely to be breast-feeding after six weeks if they had been given an epidural with fentanyl.

Agree uwila - I hate these kinds of studies.

Dd - pethidine/gas and air - sluggish feeder from day one. I did attempt bf but I don't think either of us were keen.
The ds's (2) both epidurals and fed like gannets (from bottles)

and yes, I know it's anecdotal .

See I had gas and air and pethadine (I told my husband "don't let them give me pethadine" When they asked I apparently said yes and he just went along with it) I think all pregnancys and births are diffrent.

I had epidurals with both my births and both babies latched on straight away with no problems at all. My son had gas and air, pethidine and a late epidural.
When dd was born she 'fed' for 45 mins before she even was weighed or cleaned up or anything. She just wouldn't come off!!. And I'd had an epidural before I was even induced.

Just read Uwilas post and wanted to say that I am very pro breast feeding but I'm also very pro epidurals!

A load of betty swollocks. I had epidurals both times and no probs (lucky me I know)

The report looked at 1300 women according to the BBC website

It also made the point that many women who have epidurals have them because they are going to have a C-section - which can make bf more difficult to establish if you haven't got lots of support, I suppose.

Wow its amazing to see how many births end up induction-epidural-c/section as I had with my 16wk old ds. Latched on straight away and still at it!

Never had an epidural. I breastfed all mine for at least 18months. However I really really struggled with establishing BF with no#1 after I'd had pethedine - he slept solidly for about 36 hours so by the time he was awake and seriously wanting a feed it was painful and difficult. Took me about 3 weeks to get things started properly and for him to start putting weight on. Maybe any painkilling drugs have the potential to do this.

I do remember a woman in the ward with me who'd had an epi - it had gone slightly wrong apparently and she had terrible headaches afterwards. She wasn't in a state to do anything for the baby let alone establish bf

really interesting study - and also amazing that it hasn't been researched before in much depth - I gather they think the effect is on the baby (rather than tired mother etc) and that it may affect the sucking reflex/jaw muscles etc. I remember reading before this that epidurals didn't affect the baby and being surprised. It's good to know before you decide what kind of pain relief you want to choose and also so you're prepared afterwards in case your baby is a reluctant feeder. I'm surprised some people posting on here don't like these kind of studies - better to know than not, surely?
and anecdotally ds1 was c section, also jaundiced, and nightmare to bf. ds2 was born naturally (well, if you count ventouse!) and no pain relief and had a grip of steel. Ouch.

I think it is a myth that people who have a section have a harder time breast feeding.