Tattoo forbids epidural

The_Minister

I was wondering if the posters here could clear something up for me. This has no current real-life significance for me, but I'm just curious.

I heard somewhere that getting a tattoo, or certain kinds at least, means that a woman giving birth cannot get an epidural, for some reason that I don't know. My wild guess would be that it had something to do with chemicals in the ink.

Anyone know if this is true, or just a myth?

Thrill

I've never heard of that. A quick Google brought up these differing opinions........

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lower-back-tattoo/AN01357

Answer

No, it isn't true. Most pregnant women who have lower back tattoos can receive epidurals. The exception would be if the tattoo covers a large area and is still "fresh" — meaning the involved skin is still healing. Actually, very few studies have looked at the risks of epidurals in women with lower back tattoos. But there is no conclusive evidence of any adverse effects, such an increased risk of an infection.

http://www.todaysparent.com/pregnancybirth/labour/article.jsp?content=20060719_101257_4772&page=1

There’s no science on this yet, but there is a concern among some of my colleagues that passing a needle through a tattoo could deposit some of the dye into the epidural space. And we don’t know whether tattoo dye carries a risk.

What we do know is that the surface of the needle (in the case of an epidural, a fairly large-bore needle) does pick up skin cells from the surface of the skin, so it is possible that dye could be carried into the epidural space.

http://pregnancy.about.com/od/epidurals/f/epiduraltattoo.htm

The truth is we really don't know, as very few women have been studied. One recent study involved three women. You may still opt for epidural anesthesia if you are pregnant, you can even request that they avoid placing the needle through your tattoo. If you are at the planning stages for a tattoo, consider a different location if you feel this decision is one you'd prefer to avoid.

It looks to me like they don't know for sure and would prefer to err on the side of caution.


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The_Minister

bedlam, is that site trustworthy?
It said that macrophages absorb tattoo ink, and I'm nearly certain that that is wrong.....

The_Minister

Fascinating. There goes all I thought I knew about macrophages out the window.

silja

I asked about this in my ante-natal class and my consultant, as I have several tattoos. Firstly, unless the tattoo is covering the epidural area (lower/ mid back), there won't be a problem at all. If it is covering that area, and the tatoo is fresh (less than 6 months), then it is up to the anestecist if they do the epidural. Most will as long as the tatoo has healed. In general, this should not be a problem in any case as I doubt a reputable tatooist would tatoo a pregnant woman.