Dec 27, 2000, 05:49 PM
If you have a low risk pregnancy, which is the norm, a saline or heparin lock is practical and widely acceptable. It is my hospital's policy when administering an epidural to have IV fluids infusing. A risk of the epidural is a drop in your BP, which can be prevented with proper IV hydration. Our anesthesia dept would never administer an epidural unless the pt had IV fluids infusing. Therefore, since you are likely to arrive at hospital after 3-4cm, in active labor, you can have saline/heparin lock placed on admission. Then when you feel you are ready for epidural they will be able to hook up infusion easily.
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Heparin or Saline Lock
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