What are the side effects of epidural for the mother and child?

Not at all. This is a commonly held misconception. Epidurals are safe and do not result in any long-term or short term risk to mother or child. Sometimes with an epidural you may not have much sensation or urge to push when it comes to the second stage of labour. If this is the case I usually encourage the mum not to bear down until the fetal head has descended passively down the birth canal. Sometimes I may also reduce the epidural infusion rate a little so that the mum can push better.