How the Method of Bladder Emptying After Epidural Placement in Labor Affects Postpartum Voiding

At least ten percent of patients have postpartum urinary retention or difficulty urinating after birth, which can cause incontinence and other urinary problems long-term. After getting an epidural placed, patients should be numb in their pelvic region. This numbness makes it difficult to feel the need to urinate, so patients need a urinary catheter placed to empty the bladder. Some patients have one catheter placed throughout their labor and others have a catheter placed to empty the bladder then removed every few hours. The investigators are studying whether placing a catheter once or catheterizing multiple times affects the rate of postpartum urinary problems and infection.

Inclusion Criteria: * Pregnant patients planning vaginal delivery presenting in labor or for induction of labor * Age 18 years and older * Live fetus * Receive epidural anesthesia Exclusion Criteria: * those under 18 years old * those with stillbirth * those with baseline overactive bladder symptoms, neurogenic bladder diagnoses, or otherwise using bladder catheterization during pregnancy Patients will be excluded from UTI analyses if: * they received antibiotics intrapartum * had bacteriuria diagnosed by a clean catch specimen showing \>100,000 CFU/mL of a single bacterial species, regardless of symptoms