Epidural Catheter for Labor

An epidural catheter is a small tube that is placed into your back to give you pain medicine during labor.

Before the catheter is inserted, a small area of skin on your back will be wiped with a cleaning solution. The anesthesiologist will use a small needle to inject a local anesthetic into the skin where the catheter will be inserted. Your doctor will then insert the epidural catheter. You may feel some pain or pressure when the catheter is being placed. Sometimes people get a funny feeling in one of their legs during the procedure.

Once the catheter is in place, the anesthesiologist will start the pain medicine. The nurse will give you a button that you can push to give yourself more pain medicine. Before pushing the button, please call your nurse.

Some things you should know:

The catheter will stay in place during labor.
A doctor or nurse from the anesthesia team will remove the catheter after you give birth.
Be careful not to pull on the catheter.

If you experience any pain, let your nurse know. If you should need to have a
c-section, the epidural can be used for your anesthesia.

Benefits

An epidural reduces the pain of labor.

Risks

There are risks related to the use of an epidural catheter: The following table lists the most common epidural complications.

Complication	Level of risk
Severe fall in blood pressure	1 in 1000
Difficulty moving legs	1 in 10
Itching	1 in10
Difficulty passing urine	1 in10
Headache	1 in 100
Backache	Probably unchanged (long-term)
Epidural doesn’t work	1 in 100
Needing instrumental delivery	Probably unchanged
Intravascular injection of local anesthetic	1 in 10,000
Spinal injection (leading to difficulty breathing)	1 in 10,000
Meningitis	1 in 100,000
Nerve damage	1 in13,000
Becoming paralyzed (due to infection or blood collection)	1 in 100,000

Alternatives

Medications like Stadol (given in an IV) can help reduce some pains of labor.

Breathing exercises, back massage and support from friends and family can also help ease pains of labor.

If you have any questions or concerns, please talk with your nurse or doctor.