The association between epidural labor analgesia and maternal fever

Abstract

The association between epidural labor analgesia and maternal fever is complex and controversial. Observational, retrospective, before-and-after, and randomized controlled trials all support the association, with the most current evidence supporting the mechanistic involvement of noninfectious inflammation. Considering the clinically significant neonatal consequences that have been previously demonstrated, and the possibility of more common subclinical fetal brain injury that animal models imply, the avoidance of maternal fever during labor is imperative. With the current popularity of epidural analgesia in labor, it is important that clinicians delineate how epidurals cause maternal fever and how to block the noninfectious inflammatory response that seems to warm a subset of women laboring with epidurals.

Keywords: Epidural analgesia; Hyperthermia; Intrapartum fever; Labor; Maternal temperature.