Labor epidural analgesia and breastfeeding

Epidural analgesia as an effective treatment for labor pain has been receiving increasing public attention. The Chinese National Health Committee will carry out pilot programs on epidural analgesia to improve childbirth health care services and ensure the safety of mothers and newborns. Breastfeeding is an important public health concern to promote short and long term health of mothers and children. However, there has been conflicting evidence regarding the potential influence of labor epidural analgesia on breastfeeding success. Under this situation, all health workers who provide care for obstetric patients should do well to be champions for a culture that supports breastfeeding. Since 2016, China has introduced from WHO the guideline on Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC), which emphasize the medical needs of newborn during childbirth practice. The key recommended interventions of EENC include continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact of the mother and newborn as soon as after delivery, support the mother and newborn for the first breastfeeding in delivery room, and exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months etc. These simple and cost-effective interventions have been included in the newly issued Healthy Children Action Plan (2018-2020) and will be scaled up nationwide in the future.