EXPLORING NEONATAL HEALTH DISPARITIES DEPENDED ON TYPE OF ANESTHESIA: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

As the scientific understanding of the intricate relationship between maternal analgesia and neonatal neurological outcomes continues to evolve, it becomes imperative to explore strategies aimed at optimizing this critical facet of obstetric care. This narrative review seeks to critically examine and synthesize existing literature on strategies for improving labor analgesia with a primary focus on their implications for neonatal neurological health. English studies from various databases were included, using keywords such as "childbirth analgesia", "labor pain management", "obstetric analgesia", and "neonatal outcomes", combined with "neonatal neurology" and "neonatal outcomes". The end date for this review is December 2023. This narrative review has undertaken a comprehensive exploration of labor analgesia strategies with a specific emphasis on their impact on neonatal neurological health. Recent research in obstetric anesthesia has significantly contributed to clinical practices by affirming that the early use of neuraxial labor analgesia does not adversely impact the mode of delivery. Additionally, this approach enhances maternal satisfaction. Furthermore, the immediate practical implications extend to the recommendation of employing larger doses of more diluted solutions containing bupivacaine and opioids for both the initiation and maintenance of labor analgesia through patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA).