any hope of avoiding an epidural after induction?

[miniegg]

hello
I have only just gone overdue so it is early days to be fretting but i would be interested to know if anyone has managed to give birth without mega pain relief after being induced.
i am so keen to avoid an epidural if possible as i do not want the "cascade of intervention" that all the experts talk about, but I've heard that being induced makes labour very very painful and am worried that it's probably all downhill from there..
and what about sweeps- do they make labour more painful or not necessarily?
Please tell me your experiences...

[mumto3girls]

I gave birth after being induced and it was painful,but i did it with only gas and air.
Is this your first?
Mine was my dd2 but my first vaginal delivery...

[miniegg]

yes, its my first baby. my big fear is tearing/episiotomy which I believe is more likely if you have to have an epidural and can't be as mobile or feel when to push etc.

[lulumama]

sweeps don;t have any effect on how painful labour is..they will only kickstart labour if it would have happened anyway within the next day or two

lots of sex and nipple stim can help get things moving

also, you don;t have to be induced until 42 + weeks, you can ask for expectant management, some babies need to be in utero longer than others...

also there is plenty of other pain relief, and being mobile & upright, and being active is a real benefit in coping with the pain..

a lot of women do manage an indcued labour without an epi, it can be done!

[miniegg]

okay, thanks, i'm keeping optimistic!

[crokky]

Hi, If you have the syntoc... (sp??) drip, an epidural is very likely as it makes contractions strong and painful.

I had the drip with an epidural and the midwife feels the contraction for you and tells you when to push. I was still able to use my muscles to push. I also had epis and forceps, but with some good stitching, healed very quickly with no ill effects. I would trust the doctors and midwives when in labour. I was quite ill before labour, but they got me through!

[cheekymonk]

I had the drip mentioned already and I only had gas and air. I was fully dilated and everything but ds fell asleep so in the end as ds got distressed had a c-section.
The worst thing I found with the drip was being so restricted- I tried to get on all fours as this felt most comfortable but it made drip fall out!
best of luck with it all and hope that you have an easy birth xx

[cinnamongreyhound]

Had induction, initially with prostin which got me atarted but after being told by midwife I was fully dilated and pushing for 2 hours and no baby, was then told I was only 5cm dilated and had to fight the urge to push!

Contractions were then not regular and not causing any further dilation so I was told I would need sytocinon drip and highly recommended an epidural.

Having already been in labour for 27 hours I decided I was too tired to cope with any stonger contractions and took their advise.
So didn't avoid and epidural but had no futher intervention. Was told when to push by midwife and towards the end could feel that something was different so knew to push myself.

My beautiful son was born face up causing a small labial tear (5 stitches) and I had a tiny perineal tear which required no stitching.

I may be wrong but because the drip is forcing contractions things aren't slowed as much by the epdiural as they would be in a natural labour but don't quote me on that!

Hope that helps.

[beansontoast]

hi

i was induced..not with the syntonocin drip...just with teh gel pessaries.

on reflection i think i probably had my labour kick started..and as such it may not have been teh hell that induced labours are supposed to be.however i have nothing else to compare it to.

im getting to my point now...i didnt have an epidural..it can be done...and your labour might not be hell for leather

best of luck ol bean x

[CarGirl]

To be honest I think being positive and relaxed about it all will make the biggest difference. If you overdue to 14 days etc it will probably only take 1 or 2 lots of gel and it will probably quite like a natural labour.

The ones I was most frightened about (ie the being in hospital rather than getting the homebirth I wanted & being induced when I desperately didn't want to be) were the ones when I didn't cope well with the pain. I had epidurals with 3 of them but still no other intervention apart from the being induced. TBH they tend to not top up the epidural fully if you are fully dilated etc so you can feel to push out etc and to some extent your body still tells you what to do.

Last one I was completely chilled about everything, I managed with the tens machine (absoutely fab) and gas & air, I would do all of it again tomorrow.

[USAUKMum]

I was induced with DS (at 38 wks) not with the drip. I didn't have any pain relief (not even gas & air -- I had g&a with DD and didn't like how it made me feel). I do admit to being on the verge of asking for it, as the MW said I was only 5cm and it was only 3 contractions later and wanting to push. I suggested she look again as my labours are fast (halved each time 8hr, 4hr then 1hr) and was 10cm. so no time I pushed instead.

Good luck!

[hertsnessex]

i had 2 inductions - no epi either time. one with pethidine and another just gas and air.

cx

[reikizen]

I once asked a mw I was working with if she had known of any women not to have an epidural after synto and she said only one... But if someone had told me that before I had my first (induction & epidural) it would have made me feel less crap about the decisions I made, iyswim.

[CarGirl]

I think my advice to my friends at antenatal was that if you've been going on for a long time and not getting anywhere and haven't been able to sleep to def consider the epidural. Coping with the pain when you are exhausted and haven't slept properly for 30 plu hours is tricky, from friends experience I think with the drip an epidural is usually a good pain reief option!

[potoroo]

I did have an epi following an induction, but it could have been because DS turned around and started coming down back-to-back, so I couldn't dilate. The epi allowed me to rest and give him time to turn back around. So I'm not sure if the induction and the epi were related.

Also, I didn't have issues with pushing - I could still feel when to push, and I was also calm enough to follow midwife's instructions.

I did tear, but not due to pushing wrongly - DS was very big!

[ArtichokeTagine]

I was determined not to have pain relief. However I got pre-eclampsa and was induced with prostin pessary, then had my waters broken and several hours later was made to go on the drip.

The contractions after the pessary were totally bearable. After my waters were broken the contractions were strong and very painful but I could cope. Once the drip went in I still refused pain relief but the pain was terrible. The midwife told me that "only eastern european women" could do the drip without an epi . In my case she was right as I ended up begging for the epi which, once it worked, was the biggest relief of my life.

[virgo]

It would be extremely paindful - induction enhances contractions so it could be physically exhausting

[mollymawk]

As I understand it the thing that makes it more painful is if the induction gets to the drip stage (I think it doesn't always need that), and this is because the contractions start to be very strong very suddenly.
I had this and the midwives recommended an epidural, which I was nervous about, and it was fine. I must admit I couldn't feel when to push at all though. Having said that, I have also heard that whether or not you "push" actively doesn't make a great deal of difference - the muscles do it all for you. Although I am ready to be corrected on that...

[alipigwidgeon]

I was induced for both my children and both times managed on gas and air alone. Second time I handled the pain far better using deep breathing yoga techniques and focussing on that. They offered me an epidural first time around and I refused - always said I wouldn't have one. Second time around there wouldn't have been time anyway . Try not to fret about it (easier said than done I know) but it can be done. Back rubs and moving around helped tremendously.

[virgo]

..apologies..I was assuming that induction would inherently involve oxytocin through a drip whereas you are correct in that it might only involve the gel etc. After 2 epidurals with both my births I would advise against them.

[Aitch]

haven't read all the thread but two things struck me. one, that my midwife told me that people who had epidurals tore less in her experience as they didn't push when they shouldn't be, leaving her to ease the baby out gently.
the second thing is that i had an induction and didn't find it terrible. i was managing without pain relief of any kind but my blood pressure went up and they wanted me to have the epi to bring it down. i'd have been fine with normal pain relief, i think, had my bp not gone awry. as it was the epidural didn't really work anyway so i was oddly pleased. it half-worked, so i got a bit of help but could still feel what was going on. i also have a friend who had an induction and managed fine with gas and air. good luck, labour was an amazing experience for me, i was very lucky i think (apart from the puking, lol). i hope you enjoy it and everything goes wonderfully.

[Penpen]

My second baby is 6 months now. I went over with both mine. Had my waters broken with baby no 1 which was agony and long labour, I had epidural and never regretted it. I was desterate for a home birth and everything to be natural for this baby but went 2 weeks over so had to be induced and give birth in hospital. I really didn't want to be induced but to be honest the whole thing was fine! second babies are much easier apparently anyway but I had prostin and laboured for 3 hours and gave birth with no pain relief and no tears at all.

[MKG]

I've given birth twice, both with absolutely no pain relief. First time I was induced and second one natural labor, honestly they were both equally painful. My induction was actually the better experience overall, but not more painful.

Just remember the pain is finite, do-able, and they don't call it "labor" because it's easy.

[skyatnight]

I was induced at 38 weeks due to pre eclampsia. I hadn't intended to have pain relief (other than g&a) and nobody had explained much to me about the possible implications of inductions.

The second pessary worked and the contractions were fast, waters broke spontaneously and I was fine on g&a until fully dilated. My contractions stopped then and I had to have a drip. The contractions became really very painful (!) but there was no contraction feeling (or maybe it was blocked out by the pain).

I said I didn't think I could manage without more pain relief but I wasn't allowed it at that stage nor was I allowed to continue with the g&a. I was told they would use forceps soon as the baby's heart rate was starting to drop. After complaining a bit and getting angry, I finally managed to push the baby out with some help from a midwife who supported my back to add pressure to the push. Second degree tear. Not too bad. I was told I'd done well and had a nice roomy pelves (gee, thanks!)

In retrospect, if I had been more aware of the implications of being induced, I might have asked for other pain relief at an earlier stage but, if I had had an epidural, I might have had to have an instrumental birth or an emergency caesarian, so who knows.

[skyatnight]

'pelvis'

[lazyemma]

yes, totally possible. I was induced at 41 + 3, had one pessary, labour started soon after, lasted 4 hours. I didn't need a drip, didn't have gas & air, could sit on a birthing ball next to bed (still attached to monitor), and did the whole thing on gas & air. It was an unusual labour in that as soon as the contractions started proper, they were 1 1/2 minutes apart, so quite intense, but definitely manageable (and I am a total wuss when it comes to pain).