When hypotension is related to epidural placement, this can occur within 15-60 minutes after placement. The purpose of this study is to build upon this preliminary work and to use a randomized controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of SCDs in preventing hypotension among a larger sample of laboring women who receive an epidural analgesia. This study will use a randomized, non-blinded, controlled design with two arms:~Arm 1: Patient will receive 1L of LR and have SCDs applied 15 minutes before epidural placement and will be removed 1 hour after epidural placement~Arm 2: Patient will receive 1L of LR during and after epidural placement with no use of SCDs Outcome variables include occurrence of maternal hypotension or Category II fetal tracings in the first hour after epidural placement.
When hypotension is related to epidural placement, this can occur within 15-60 minutes after placement. The purpose of this study is to build upon this preliminary work and to use a randomized controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of SCDs in preventing hypotension among a larger sample of laboring women who receive an epidural analgesia. This study will use a randomized, non-blinded, controlled design with two arms:~Arm 1: Patient will receive 1L of LR and have SCDs applied 15 minutes before epidural placement and will be removed 1 hour after epidural placement~Arm 2: Patient will receive 1L of LR during and after epidural placement with no use of SCDs