Epidural - how pain free was your labour?

[Ashtower]

I have tokophobia (fear of labour). Stems from the fact my mother almost died giving birth to my sister. I am considering ttc this year but recognise I have issues to overcome.

AIBU to ask if you had an epidural and how pain-free your labour was (if you feel comfortable sharing of course)

My cousin says hers was completely pain-free - sounds too good to be true.

Epidural is the single best thing ever invented. Absolute miracle of medicine. The most empowering decision I could have made in labour.

Completely pain free. I could feel it though. It was a strange feeling like intense pressure down there, I still had a strong urge to push. Zero pain though.

I remember my clit hurting. And I was really sad because out of all of the parts of my genitals, that was the one bit I wanted to keep

That was supposed to be a

My labour and birth with an epidural was pain free (after I had the epidural, before not so!)

My labour with no pain relief was much nicer.

I suggest you try hypnobirthing including a fear release hypnotherapy season.

I had a lot of fear to release and it seemed to do the job.

Epidural stopped the pain of the contractions but did not stop the pain of my vagina stretching and then tearing (not badly, but it wasn’t pleasant). It also hurt going in as it went in the wrong place the first time.

I had diamorphine in both my epidural and non-epidural births which was nice!

I had a very long and agonising labour (53 hours) with my first when I finally got an epidural at 8cms (short staff, the pain drove me completely out of control). The relief was incredible and pushing was fine.

2nd labour I asked for an epidural at 5cms and then baby descended very quickly as I sat up to receive it so I didnt get it in the end. That labour was on paper textbook perfect but the actual pain of labour and the pushing part has left me a little traumatised.

I'm due with my 3rd baby in 2/3 months and I'll be making it very clear on my notes I want an epidural asap. My labours are very painful so I really dont want to do it without.

Had an epidural with my first which was a long labour, it only worked on one side of my body! Still was a lot of relief though. But I struggled to push as a result and took over 2 hours to get my baby out and I had to be cut (episiotomy).

With second I went completely the other way, did hypnobirthing and had a water birth at home with no pain relief. Was much better, and recovery was easier, no tearing etc.

Personally I think whether an epidural works for you or not is just one of those things, and you can't predict it, but be prepared for it to potentially lead to other complications like assisted delivery etc. It does help with the pain, but can (though not necessarily) make it more difficult to push etc.

My labour was awful as I was induced, strapped to the bed with heart monitor and hormone drip. Absolutely awful. Had been awake for 24 hours. Got an epidural when they decided I needed a section. I was snoring away on the bed within 10 minutes of it kicking in. completely pain free to the point I fell asleep!

Had one with awkwardly positioned no4 after 20 odd hours. Not sure why but it didn't make any difference and they kept telling me I must be imagining it. I feel robbed, after 3 lovely painful but doable labours, I really felt I needed some pain relief and I didn't get it. The only good thing was sitting up to get it inserted made the baby turn/descend and she arrived quite soon after, to much swearing...

It was instant and I didn't feel a thing at all after hours of agony. Was on cloud 9 after 16 hours of contractions. Had an epidural and forceps delivery and I didn't even know DS was coming/had came out during the actual birth I was just like "have I done it!?" 😅

I had an epidural and it was indeed pain free. Labour didn’t progress and my daughter was in distress. I ended up with a c section.

For my second I had a planned c section.

In your shoes I would 100% opt for a planned section. It’s calm, pain free, controlled. It was a massively positive experience for me. Recovery takes time but I felt great after a week.

I had an epidural with my first but they didn't give it me til I was 9cm dilated and said the aneithetist wasn't available and then the room needed cleaning. once I had it the pain went completely but I ended up needing a ventouse delivery. With my second I had a home birth with just gas and air and was so much better. I would advise against an epidural unless you really cant cope with the pain especially of you are planning to breastfeed.

Epidurals were amazing, I've had two. Probably could have delivered without any pain relief for baby one as it wasn't that bad but I was adamant I wanted an epidural. Second baby I tried to go pain relief free and couldn't. Epidural saved the day! I felt my babies come out, but no pain with that feeling, bit gross but kind of like when a soft poo just slips out, you feel it but it doesn't hurt, I even knew when both babies crowned and it was time to deliver but again not painful at all. I remember my sister watching the machine monitoring contractions in my first labour saying 'oh my god Rapid that's a big one!' and I just said jokingly 'oh really? Erm, ow?' 😁 I would try no pain relief for another baby but always have epidural in my arsenal x

My epidurals were pure bliss and had no impact on breastfeeding at all whatsoever. The pain from a drug-free birth, however (gas and air just made me vomit), scarred me terribly.

Can anyone who had epidural and then an assisted delivery (foreceps) tell me whether you could feel the instrument?

I was induced (Syntocinon drip) and the first 4 hours were fine but it gradually got more and more painful as the drip was turned up and the contractions got stronger. I wanted to see how far I could go before asking for an epidural but at 5cm (about 5 hours in I think), I found the pain too much and asked for an epidural. The anaesthetist came in within about 20 minutes and it took about another 20 minutes to take effect. I didn’t feel any pain after that and even had a little snooze while my body carried on doing it’s thing. They give you a button to press to keep administering the drugs, if you press it regularly you’ll feel nothing, if you press it less often you’ll get a bit more sensation. I did the latter so I could feel the sensations and know when to push.

I was happy to get my epidural because the pain was intense until then. However, it didn't stop me from feeling the contractions, they just didn't hurt. But I could tell when to push and afterwards i could feel my episiotomy being stitched (again, no pain but could feel the movement), so, while it made labour bearable, it didn't go the whole way to making me completely numb down below.

Once my epidural kicked in I didn't feel a thing for the rest of labour.

I had an epidural and the pain relief was instant and pushing was absolutely fine.

I will say though, it took longer than they said for the numbness to wear off! They kept telling me it would all be out of my system, but I still couldn't feel the base of my spine for a good while!

But for pain relief it was amazing.

Once epidural kicked in I was pain free but then had lots of complications due to failure to progress, IMO the epidural hindered my labour as I had to labour on my back.

If I were you I’d consider counselling in the first instance and perhaps elective c-section.

@ThatsNotMyCherry I had an epidural then assisted delivery. They have me a full spinal block before using the forceps (in case they needed to do an emergency C section, DDs heart rate was dropping) so I definitely couldn’t feel anything but based on examinations, etc before the spinal block was administered I wouldn’t imagine you would feel the assisted delivery with just an epidural.

My epidural worked perfectly (well placed by an excellent anaesthetist). I had one of the hand held click ones that you click to top up yourself.

It worked perfectly (I felt nothing, and had been induced on the synto drop) until it wore off, on Midwife's advice so I could feel when to push but that's another story.

If it's not correctly put in you might only get relief one side. There are no guarantees, but mine worked well. Then in the theatre I had a spinal, which was also totally effective at blocking all sensation and pain.

*drip, not drop!

was totally pain free, till it wore off! I was not aware or told i could top it up, so that was shit.

its amazing though, you can still feel you legs,but cant walk, although when your in that much pain you dont want to be moving round anyhow!!

look at a c-section if your worried. Its painful i wont lie but its so so so worth the pain