A report discovered that Latino women are more likely to deny epidural during child labor.

New research conducted by doctoral graduate, Juilane Milburn found that Latino women are 53 percent less likely than all other races to have an epidural. 

"One of the most unique features of childbirth pain is that it is one of the few situations in health care where acute pain may be left untreated as part of care management, and for some women, the ability to make that choice is more important than medical interventions," said Milburn in a press release. 

Milburn's interest in the use of epidurals peaked at her own clinical practice according to Linda Bullock, Milburn's adviser. 

"Juliane's interest in this topic came out of her own clinical practice of working in labor and delivery caring for such women, her travels to Spanish-speaking countries and fluency in Spanish," said Bullock. 

In another report, findings showed the use of epidermal was lower for Spanish-speaking women (66 percent) than for English-speaking women (81 percent).  

The report evaluated 1,424 Latino women who delivered at a large urban maternity hospital. 

Author of the report, Dr. Paloma Toledo, said "the study is important because it reveals a health care delivery disparity among Hispanic women based on spoken language," he added, "these findings, along with future research, will help us identify and target interventions, whether they are at the system, provider or patient level, to better educate Spanish-speaking Hispanic women about their pain relief options during labor."