Women who develop fever during labor are much more likely to have received epidural analgesia than women who do not. If greater than 101 degrees F., fever is likely to have a negative influence on early neonatal outcome. A Boston research team investigated the association between elevated maternal temperature and early neonatal outcome in 1,218 mother-infant pairs. They found that 16.6% of women given an epidural for pain relief developed fever of 100.5 degrees F. or greater during labor, versus only 0.6% of women who did not receive epidural analgesia. The mean time from epidural to fever was 5.9 hours.
The researchers found that babies born to women whose fevers were over 101 degrees F. during labor "...were almost 4 times as likely to have a 1-minute Apgar score <7 than were infants of afebrile mothers." They were also more likely to need bag and mask resuscitation immediately after delivery, to need oxygen therapy in the nursery, and to have a seizure during the neonatal period. Infants born to mothers whose fevers were 100.5 degrees F. or greater were more likely than others to be hypotonic.
-Pediatrics, January 2000
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 4, Jan 28, 2000)
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