Hip-flexed postures do not affect local anaesthetic spread following induction of epidural analgesia for labour.

Hip-flexed postures enlarging the pelvic diameter are used to improve the obstetric course of labour. Although most investigations show that lateral and sitting positions do not affect the spread of epidural analgesia, the effect of recently introduced hip-flexed postures has yet to be confirmed. This prospective randomised study included 93 parturients.