[Plasmacortisol and parturition under epidural anaesthesia (author's transl)]

Plasma cortisol was determined by a radioimmuno assay during labour, at and after delivery in 16 primigravidas und epidural anaesthesia and was compared with 13 primigravidas, who delivered under pentazocine or pethidine and pudendal block. Cortisol levels decreased after effective epidural anaesthesia during the first stage of labor and for delivery. They increased in the control patients for delivery and was significantly higher than in the patients under epidural anaesthesia. Two and 20 hours post partum cortisol concentrations decreased in both groups. Cortisol levels in the fetuses and newborns was markedly lower than those of mothers. At delivery, the cortisol concentration of the newborns of both groups was the same. The changes of cortisol concentrations in this study support the conclusion that epidural anaesthesia during labor and delivery reduces stress for the mother, but not for the fetus.