Anyone know about epidurals??

[CrazyDi]

I had an epidural with baby 1 and was too late with baby 2, but when I had one the mw's let it wear off for the last couple of hours.

I just wondered if you could actually request that it be topped up for the whole delivery?? I know it can slow down labour etc but Ive had a rough pregnancy and to be honest just want as little pain as poss (dont we all!!) for the delivery.

Any of you have a completely pain free labour due to an epidural lasting until baby arrived??

[Yorkiegirl]

Message withdrawn

[franch]

I had a short labour and my epidural lasted through to delivery (I'm not a fan of epidurals as I ended up as one of those scary statistics they warn you about, but I'm OK now and that wasn't your question ). I couldn't feel when to push, which made things very difficult and resulted in a lot of tearing. However, I don't know what it feels like to do it the way you did last time round so can't tell you which is worse! Hope that helps a bit - good luck

[zaphod]

Yes, I had 2.

[bonym]

My 1st labour was pain-free from the time I had the epidural until delivery - mind you I couldn't feel to push either & ended up with episiotomy & ventouse.

[teabelly]

I had my epidural topped up as it wasn't strong enough at first, and then it lasted long enough for ds to make his appearance. Was lucky enough to be able to push him out on my own without added implements, just had advice from MW as to when to push. If it's what you want and there's enough time to have an epidural (my big fear with this one!!!) then insist on having it topped up if that's what you want - just bear in mind you may need assistance to get little one out when the time comes