Radio 4 just now, woman in labour 'given paracetamol' for labour pain!

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just

'Women and birthing people' - Sarah Montague 🙄

^ I groaned to myself.

I really hope the HSE actually instruct Trusts to test levels and not just lazily issue a blanket ban when some delivery suites are exterior facing and can adequately be ventilated. Also piss off to the race to the bottom comments about how I didn't need it therefore it's not an issue.

What does it matter if we say birthing person to make afew people happy? Does it do any harm? Not being aggressive, it’s a genuine question.

After a complex section which involved a fully engaged and fully stuck baby that had to be manually turned, pushed from below, pushed from above, and goodness knows what else, I was discharged home with just a box of paracetamol. My entire abdomen was covered in livid purple bruises from all of it. I ended up going to see my GP next day because I was in so much pain. The GP said that I shouldn't have been discharged with that level of bruising and that giving me paracetamol was like putting a sticking plaster on a stab wound, she prescribed me much better pain relief.

By contrast, DB had his burst appendix removed and had a morphine pump while in the hospital then was discharged home with naproxen.

Because even to make a few people happy, it takes away the word woman yet again.

Women give birth. Only women can give birth. You start replacing the word woman with people, it’s another thing chipped away at.

What does it matter if we say birthing person to make afew people happy? Does it do any harm? Not being aggressive, it’s a genuine question.

^ . It does huge harm. It isn't just language or semantics, it represents a belief system that is contrary to science and fact and those who believe it are pushing an agenda that is actively and successfully contributing to the erosion of the tiny progress towards equality for women that's been achieved globally in the past 150 hundred years.

I’ve had three sections.

I’ve also helped family members recover from operations.

The difference in how you are treated afterwards is astounding.

I do wonder if the whole focus on ‘natural birthing’ is to blame for the woeful pain relief. Most of the first time mums I know make elaborate plans for a drug free water birth, make it clear in their plan they don’t want an epidural because of ‘cascade of interventions’ etc.

I can see how, if they have it all written up and seem very informed about their decisions, midwives might be reluctant to be seen to be ‘pushing pain relief they don’t want’ or ‘coercing them to have intervention they don’t need’ and therefore ‘not respecting their birth plan’.

I had a couple of paracetamol for full labour. To be honest i doubt they had chance to kick in before delivery. They gave me gas and air for the placenta removal but it made me lose all sensation of my limbs being attached to me that I stopped using it.

Next labour was induction and for about 11 hours of the drip I had nothing, then put my tens machine on for maybe an hour and tried with gas and air for the VE before needing an emergency C section.

Every labour is different, and every woman deals with it differently. Obviously if she is asking for more pain relief and being ignored then that's not OK but otherwise paracetamol can be enough.

I was a young mother in 1990 and was told I had to have pethidine, made me ill. 15 hours later and a team of students brought in the Dr bellowed, 'she's not going to do it on her own' and proceeded to give a scissor episiotomy, shaking her head in impatience when I said I could feel it. The Midwife was fabulous and so attentive and reassuring and insisted they stop and give more pain relief. Once my baby was born I was taken to the ward and someone else's baby (with my colouring) brought to me. Totally ignored when I said, 'that baby isn't mine'. Fortunately wristbands were on and proved me right. The sister in the ward on night shift spent ages with me helping me to breastfeed. I couldn't fault the nursing staff, midwives, health visitors but the Dr's at the time felt a different breed and little compassion or respect was given. I hope things have improved.

I was given two paracetamol and a diazepam. I woke up fully dilated and ready to push.

Personally after 3 inductions I would have been quite happy with a hammer on the head and bring me round when it's all over. My last one invoked an epidural and the difference was chalk and cheese.

Barely even touches menstrual cramps 🤣

I only had paracetamol for one of mine.

I wouldn't recommend it.

NHS maternity services are barbaric.

Given birth twice with just a couple of paracetamol, works to take the edge off in early labour so you can keep your strength up for when it gets more hectic.

I think we've gone the wrong way. I know call the midwife albeit based on true stories initially can't be taken as gospel, but it seems better to me to have a midwife you know and trust at the birth. I had a random woman I'd never met appear to tell me off for bothering her, and then when she realised I was indeed pushing this baby out whether she liked it or not she stayed, but it was such a negative experience. I wasn't listened to at all. They saw me as some young naive girl who couldn't possibly know whether I was in labour and ignored me, essentially. Hence me giving birth in the wrong place. It's not okay. It would not happen if men were the ones giving birth, it just wouldn't.

Haven't they done this for c sections for years. After major abdominal surgery all I was given was paracetamol. You're not a proper mother unless you've suffered as much as possible apparently

My mother had the same 40 odd years ago on me. The midwife didn't believe she was in labour as her pains were in her bum, when she was examined I was coming out bum first and she had to push.

This was my experience when my DD was born back in 2013. I was utterly traumatised and had flashbacks for ages after. It’s horrific that women are put through this. I know some women who choose to have a low/no pain relief labour and some of them have a really positive experience but it wasn’t my experience.

Yup. I’ve bought my own, stronger pain killers each time.

Seriously, the way women are treated after sections makes my head spin. My dad had surgery 3 months after my last section and it pissed me off how he was treated compared to my experiences after 3 sections.

After the last one, I had to walk across the hospital, pushing dd in the heavy bedside cot to take her for her newborn check, following a HCA who kept telling me to hurry up. 12 bloody hours after she was born!

Could you imagine that happening after another type of surgery?

Tbf I didn't even get that! 2 hours of begging for pain relief ignored as my contractions were only 30 seconds long so couldn't possibly be doing anything and they couldn't give me anything until I was in the delivery room! The shear panick when I had to start pushing in front of 6 other woman on an open ward and a baby 10 mins later.

When I was induced I started having cramps about an hour after having a pessary put in and for the first day all they would give me was paracetamol. Didn’t even touch the pain. They kept saying I wasn’t really in labour yet. I’m not sure if that was true, because the thing measuring my contractions kept falling off my stomach or not making readings when I was having one.

After I got taken to deliver I had gas and air and an epidural. They might as well not have bothered with the paracetamol.

I think it is worrying that paracetamol is still recommended as the go to option in early labour when the research shows it leads to a much longer latent labour and more pain in the long term.

I have birth to my first just with two paracetamol. It was horrific. They spent so long telling me that I had ages to go and there was no need for any other pain relief yet. By the time I asked for the diamorphine it was too late 🙄 gas and air made me feel so sick I didn't even manage to use that.
Got diamorphine with my second thankfully, I kept insisting I wanted and needed it - wasn't making the same mistake twice!

I'm in Spain. 2 vaginal births, first 7 years ago, second 4 years ago. No gas and air here at all at that point. I think there is in some places now. But I only had paracetamol. I didn't need anything else. It depends on the person and the labour, but I don't think it's barbaric to be offered paracetamol in the first instance. Frankly, the thought of an epidural is worse for me.