Abstract
Labour and delivery pain, although it is a result of a physiological process, if unrelieved when it becomes severe may produce deleterious effects on the mother, foetus and newborn:
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severe respiratory acidosis during contractions
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alcalosis-induced hypoventilation between contractions
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maternal and fetal hypoxemia
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marked increase in sympathetic activity
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increase in catecholamine secretion, in metabolism and in O2 consumption
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increased cardiac output, blood pressure and left ventricle work
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progressive metabolic acidosis
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decreased gastro-intestinal and urinary motility with delayed gastric emptying
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umbilical cord vasoconstriction
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impairment of blood gas exchanges.
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© 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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De Castro, J., Meynadier, J., Zenz, M. (1991). Obstetrics. In: Regional Opioid Analgesia. Developments in Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesiology, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2321-8_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2321-8_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7543-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2321-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive