[Influence of epidural anesthesia on the progression of labor in primiparas]

A comparative study was carried out on 363 primiparas at the University Hospital of Montpellier to assess what influence epidural anaesthesia had on the number of instrumental deliveries that had to be carried out in our service and in the way it is conducted. This study shows that the increase in the number of instrumental deliveries found in women who deliver under epidural anaesthesia was mainly due to the abnormal obstetric conditions for which the epidural anaesthetic was anyhow given. There was only a small increase in the numbers that had to be delivered instrumentally in those women had epidural anaesthesia "for comfort". This was not particularly significant with anterior presentations.