Association of Labor Epidural Analgesia with Neonatal Umbilical Arterial Blood pH and Apgar Score: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS)

In this large cohort of singleton vaginal births in Japan, the use of labor epidural analgesia had little to no clinically meaningful effect on neonatal outcomes, including UmA-pH < 7.2 and Apgar score < 7. These findings support informed decision-making for pregnant women in Japan who are considering labor epidural analgesia.