The nationwide retrospective cohort study was conducted on 479 178 children born in Denmark between January 2006 and December 2013. The study intended to investigate the significant increase of autism risk in offspring of a mother who received epidural analgesia when compared to those who did not receive any epidural analgesia during labor.
Among 485 093 live-born children, 5915 were excluded because of pregnancy-related ad various complications during the first year of life.
It was found that the mothers who received epidural analgesia during labor had no significant relation with an autism spectrum disorder in offspring when compared to those who did not receive the analgesia (incidence rate, 23.1 vs. 18.5 per 10 000 person-years).
Hence, the study highlights the safer profile of epidural analgesia during labor for both mother and child.
Source: Medindia
