how effective are epidurals

[trish12]

Hi all, hope u dont mind me gate crashing for a while, just popped over from ante-natal clubs. I have a question for all those who have had an epidural, Im due in 4wks and having not had the best experience first time round, i am absolutley cacking myself to say the least. I have decided to op for an epidural this time as i want total pain relief!! but my query is, does it stop the burning sensation you get when the head crowns? I remember that so vividly, and it was, for me, the worst part of labour!! and that was ten years ago, sad eh, ,lol.
please give me some pointers!!

[mehdismummy]

i had to be induced so had epidural the labour was pain free apart from being a tiny bit comfortable. They stopped topping up the epidural for pushing. God it hurt. Well to cut a long story short ds got stuck and i had forceps. They gave me a top up and i went from being in the worst pain i have ever experienced to nothing at all. In fact i told the doctor i loved him.! If i have another dc i will definetly have one!

[trish12]

oh god, i dont know weather thats good news or bad news!! but more good than bad then, i think!!

[Kneehighinnappies]

I had 3 babies, 2 at the same time while under an epidural and didn't feel a thing, so it works
mind you I had 2cs so didn't actually have to give birth to any of mine, so I'm not much help in that department sorry.

[luckylady74]

i gave birth to twins normally with an epidural and it was bliss - i could feel everything but there was no pain - even things i missed with ds1 like the placenta because i was in a blur of pain i could feel this time.

[ingles2]

trish I had 2 mobile epi's which worked beautifully, but no they didn't get rid of that awful stinging when the head crowns. Sorry!

[Niecie]

Epidurals are brilliant. I don't know about the burn when crowning as I wasn't aware of it when having DS2 with no pain relief but with DS1 I had an episotomy and didn't feel a thing. He was forceps and I didn't feel them either.

I wasn't even aware of any pain putting it in because by then I was in established labour and that was more distracting.

If you think it would help you and keep you calm then it is worth it. Most of my labour I spent the afternoon watching telly and chatting to the midwife and DH.

Ask for it as soon as you get to hospital though so that you stand a chance of getting it.

Hope it all goes well for you.

[Mintpurple]

Hi Trish - dont be scared of it, you have done it before and so it will be fine this time. If you have an epidural, you can ask to have a top up before pushing if you want, so that you really do feel nothing more than a bit of pressure. Some m/w are a bit reluctant to do this in case you cant push effectively, but thats more of a problem for first time mums. If you had a normal birth first time round then you will push this one out, topped up or not! An epidural will increase the need for instrumental delivery quite significantly for a first baby, but only very slightly for subsequent.

Remember if you have it early, it can really slow down your labour, and with a 10 year gap, your first stage of labour might be a bit slower than you expect anyway. Second stage should be fine though.

Good luck.

[MegBusset]

I had an epidural and didn't feel any pain when the head crowned, didn't even flinch during the episiotomy or stitching!

[itsahardknocklife]

I had an epidural. Felt nothing - no crowining, no cutting, no stitching. It also meant that I didn't feel contractions and that resulted in a ventouse birth, but all was fine in the end.
And if I have another child I will plan to have an epidural again.

[mehdismummy]

oh without a doubt more good than bad trish no pain versus alot of pain and no pain wins every time i was walking about after three hours. Thank god i did not feel cutting and sewing. Also took my mind off the fact that the world and there brother was looking up my nonie![front bottom]!

[clairenlogan]

personally if i had to choose between any kind of pain and the pain the epidural was ide rather risk it i felt like a invalid i wanted to move to hold my son but cudnt becuase i had to have a section as he was breech

[jumpyjan]

I had an epidual when DD was born - nearly 1 year ago. It stopped ALL the pain and I couldn't feel a thing - luvly! You still kind of know when you are having a contraction (plus you are hooked up to a machine that tells you when you are) so I was still able to push DD out.

Good luck and try not to worry.

[alfiesbabe]

I had an epidural for dd2 (c section) and certainly didnt feel my belly being cut open so yes, they definitely work! I had natural deliveries for my first and third babies and they were the most painful! I found the crowning the worst part too.

[Princesspowersparkle]

I loved an epidural! I was induced and had been on gas and air but when it got too much I had my epidural. I told the doc doing it that I loved him! I was slightly high though. Thay let it wear off during pushing but then I decided I couldn't do it without it so they topped up again. I managed to push my DD out without feeling anything.
They are not scary and it didn't hurt. xx

[GoodGollyMissMolly]

Hi, I had an epi with DD, and I didn't feel a thing other than pulling and tugging (Forceps delivery) and the occasional tightening with contractions.

Hope all goes well for you.

[Heated]

I had a epidural with my 2nd labour and I can honestly say it was a pleasure!

I needed an epi to slow down my labour and to give me control over the pushing. I was induced and was given an epidural as soon as I felt the first contraction which was about 15mins later.

After the initial epidural is given, you can top up yourself but this is a weaker solution &, if you contract rapidly and intensely as I do, this is not so good. In my case the anesthetist came back and topped the epi up directly so I did not feel any pain. I read that sometimes they like the benefits of the epi to wear off at the crowning stage, but in my case that was an absolute no-no!

Labour was 5 hours from start to finish. Despite what I had read about epidurals, I was able to walk to the bathroom afterwards and I left hospital the next morning.

[Izzybel]

I had an epidural. It was fab! Couldn't feel anything apart from the tightenings of the contractions, a bit like Braxton-hicks. I could even sleep during labour! I pushed DD out without feeling anything. One of the drawbacks, though is that you're not able to move from the bed, unless you're able to have a mobile epi and of course there are certain risks that the anaesthetist will explain before they administer the epidural, but at that point I didn't care. I was just thinking, 'just get it in!' Good luck with the birth, hope it all goes well

[Sabire]

I had an epidural with my first and felt nothing during crowning. I also ended up with a forceps birth however, and four weeks of difficulty breastfeeding, which is also linked to having the epidural (the fentanyl they use in the epidural goes through to the baby and can make them sleepy and less likely to feed well).

In retrospect I would have far rather had 10 minutes of stinging during crowning than weeks and weeks of perineal pain and raw nipples. But that's just me - maybe I was especially unlucky.

[mehdismummy]

i think the doctors who gives the injection are probably the most told people they are loved by loads of women. When i told mine he certainly was not suprised! Good luck love. Let us all know when your new arrival gets here

[NKF]

I had an epidural that only partially worked. So I was immobile but still in pain down one side. But many many people swear by them. Read the liteature on the subject. There's sure to be some.

[vannah]

i had my second baby a few weeks ago, and had an epidural again. When baby's head was crowning, it just felt ..well, normal. I could feel it, but it wasnt painful at all. The last top up I was given was an hour before I started pushing so it had started to wear off but still numbish.

I was lying down for the first baby and couldnt feel much and took 2.5 hours to push. Second baby I stood up and felt much better for it and she came out after 8 minutes.

good luck

[vickyy]

I am scared of the pain during crowning too (especially feeling myself tear). Would a local anaesthetic (pudendal block) work?

[mehdismummy]

is this your first baby? Do you not want full epi?

[lulumama]

the crowning is not a long time, and it is really not that horrific. perineal massage can help you get used to it, don;t think pudendal block used anymore. also once you feel crowning, you know you are nearly at the end!

also, there is evidence that epidural can contribute to the need for instrumental delivery, as it can relax the pelvic floor too much, which can stop babies head rotating correctly for the birth

there are a lot of pain relief options,

TENS, water, massage , aromatherapy, diamorphine, meptid, pethidhine, gas and air, mobilising, vocalising, changing position, hypnobirthing....

epidural means your birth is on a different route....more medicalised, you will have increased monitoring, possibly a drip and , and less ability if any, to move

[Gemzooks]

I would go for the mobile epi (low-dose epi), that's what I had. I did have a lot of pain from contractions, but I was still able to push (could feel nothing but in fact was pushing), and didn't feel a thing with the crowning, so ideal really. The low dose epi takes a lot of it away and especially the actual birth, whilst still leaving you mobile and able to push... just my experience of one time!