Effect of ethnicity and parity on utilisation of labour epidural analgesia: a retrospective study
Authors' conclusion
This study outlines the disparities in the utilisation of epidural analgesia at our hospital across various patient demographics.
Study context
- Population
- All deliveries at Christchurch Hospital, Aotearoa New Zealand, over a 4-year period
- Participants
- 22,970 deliveries
- Exposure
- Ethnicity, separately by parity
- Outcome
- Epidural analgesia utilisation
Methodological detailspopulation-based, single-centre, multivariable logistic regression
- Population-based
- Single-centre
- Multivariable logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Epidural rate, vaginal deliveries
Each group vs europeanOdds ratio (95% CI)P value
Māoriprimiparous (first birth)
0.87(0.70–1.04)
P = 0.12Māorisubsequent births
0.75(0.60–0.92)
P < 0.01Pacificprimiparous
0.61(0.44–0.84)
P < 0.01Pacificmultiparous
0.18(0.09–0.31)
P < 0.01- Overall epidural rate for vaginal deliveries
- 23.1% (n = 3449)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Effect of ethnicity and parity on utilisation of labour epidural analgesia: a retrospective study. Anaesthesia. Published 23 January 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →