Can epidurals and other pain medications during labour affect my babys ability to breastfeed?
Yes. After an unmedicated labour and delivery, healthy, term babies left on their mother’s abdomen have the innate ability to crawl up and latch onto the breast, unassisted. This reflex can be disrupted and even inhibited when the mother is medicated or when mother and baby have been separated. Most pain medications used during labour have an effect on the baby (sleepiness, irritability, etc.) and possibly on early breastfeeding and mother-baby attachment, and this varies according to dosage and time lapsed between administration and delivery. Certain effects may last long after birth. Breastfeeding difficulties that may stem from these effects can, in certain cases, be difficult of impossible to surmount, if they are poorly managed. Expectant mothers must be well informed about these possible consequences as well as available alternatives so that they can make informed choices when it comes to pain management.
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