Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effect of premature epidural analgesia during labor on maternal serum cortisol（COR），endothelin⁃1（ET⁃1）and nitric oxide levels（NO）. Methods According to the principle of voluntary application by the parturients ，the parturients who met the inclusion criteria were divided into an early analgesia group（group P）and a control group（group C）.When group P went into labor，they were given analgesia，whereas group C was not given any analgesia measures. The two groups were evaluated for VAS pain score at the time of labor（T0），full uterine opening（T1），and after delivery（T2），and 3mL of maternal venous blood was taken to detect COR，ET⁃1 and NO concentrations as well as record the labor process Duration，delivery method，umbilical artery blood is taken immediately after the fetus is delivered，and its PO2，PaCO2，and pH values are recorded. Results The first，second，and total stages of labor in group P were longer than those in group C（P＜0.05）；as labor progressed，the VAS score and COR content in group P at T1 and T2 were lower than those in group C（P＜0.05）. At the same time，the ET⁃1 level of group P was lower than that of group C at T1 and T2（P＜0.05），and the level of NO was higher than group C（P＜0.05）. There was no statistical comparison of the two groups of newborns′ Apgar scores，PO2，PaCO2，and pH values. Academic distinction（P > 0.05）. Conclusion It is feasible to implement epidural analgesia ahead of time，it has no effect on maternal or neonatal outcomes，and it can reduce the maternal stress response to pain，which is beneficial to placental circulation and perfusion. 

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