The Association Between Epidural Labor Analgesia and Pregnancy Outcomes

1 minute Apgar index

The index indicates the infant s' conditions, including heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response, color. Each characteristic is given an individual score; two points for each of the five categories if all is completely well; then all scores are totaled. The score is from 0 to 10.

Time frame: 1 minute after the infant is born

5 minute Apgar index

The index indicates the infant s' conditions, including heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response, color. Each characteristic is given an individual score; two points for each of the five categories if all is completely well; then all scores are totaled. The score is from 0 to 10.

Time frame: 5 minutes after the infant is born

Visual Analogue Scores(VAS)

VAS is the most common pain scale for quantification. The score is from 0 to 10. The score is higher, the patient will be more painful. That will indicate if the analgesia is effective.

Time frame: 5min before analgesia;5min,15min, 30min,60min after analgesia; at the time of latent phase, active phase, full dilation of the cervix, crowning of head, and laceration repair.

Modified Bromage scores

The modified Bromage score is the most frequently used measure of motor block. The scores is from 0 to 3. In this scale, the intensity of motor block is assessed by the patient's ability to move their lower extremities (0: no motor paralysis; 1: inability to raise extended leg, but able to move knee and foot; 2: inability to raise extended leg and to move knee, but able to move foot; 3: inability to raise extended leg or to move knee and foot). That will indicate if the analgesia block the patient motor too much.