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A small percentage of pregnant women will develop
elevated body temperature during labor. This is slightly more common in women
who are having their first baby and long labors, and use epidural
anesthesia. Much research has shown that it is very unlikely that it truly
reflects infection in either mother or baby. However, in some cases, the
pediatricians may do some blood tests on the baby to rule out any possibility of
infection. Rest assured that most women do not develop fever during labor either
with or without epidural anesthesia, although you should be aware that this
finding is more common in patients who use epidural anesthesia for labor and
delivery. The most recent data shows that elevated temperatures occur in 24% of
women having their first baby and using epidural anesthesia compared to 5% in
women without epidural anesthesia. No difference was found in women
having second or subsequent deliveries.
The mechanism for this observation is not known. It may
be related to the way body heat is generated and distributed during labor and
delivery. During painful labor the patients tend to breath very fast and this
may allow heat to be dissipated away from the body. Once the pain relief has
been obtained, breathing tends to be more calm and relaxed; eventually the body
temperature may rise.
References:
ACOG (American College Of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists) Practice Bulletin on Obstetric Analgesia and Anesthesia. July
2002;36:177-191.
Philip J, Alaxander JM, Sharma K, Leveno KJ, McIntire DD,
Wiley J. Epidural analgesia during labor and maternal fever. Anesthesiology
1999;90:1271-5.
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