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.

I didn't have a very long or painful labour. I remember it all, mostly with affection.

Completely pain free. At first the epidural didn't numb one (upper) leg so I could still feel the contractions there, but the midwife adjusted my position and then my leg was pain free too.

It was lucky as in the end I was rushed to theatre and had to have episiotomy and forceps, and as I was already numbed I didn't feel any pain for that either (a bit of pulling and shoving but no pain).

I had one because they needed to induce me using a drip and I'd be pre-warned not to let them put in the syntocinon drip unless I'd first got my epidural. It made me vomit copiously, and I still felt everything, but didn't realise it was an issue (v high pain threshold) till I suddenly needed an EMCS and the surgeon was shocked I winced when he sprayed me with cold antiseptic .

I ended up with a general anaesthetic, but recovered really quickly and was driving again within 2 weeks and running after 5. C-sections aren't the worst thing in the world.

I didn't have an epidural, it would have worried me to be numb and unable to assist in giving birth, sometimes leading to a c section. I'd also heard stories about back problems people had afterwards due to epidural. I preferred to be drug free and in control and am sure it is a much quicker happening without.

Epidural didn't work for me
i had one when i was in labour with Ds 1,2 and 3 but it never worked so with Dc 4 and 5 i didn't bother asking for one.

I had an epidural with DS1 and was 100% pain free and no complications

Do you have a fear of labour ? Or pain ? Becasie your question relates to the pain more than the actual labour.

I had 3 labours with epidurals. The most recent one the gave me 3 epidurals, none worked so they gave me a spinal block injection. Worked the same bit isn’t long lasting. You don’t feel even a contraction, so much so that they have to tell you when to push !

I had an epidural with my first. Once the epidural was put in my labour was totally painless.

I didn’t have one with my second (just G&A), and while it hurt at the time, I’d soon forgotten the pain.

Baby 3 is due next week and I won’t be having one this time (unless I have to, eg. C section).

I got induced, was in a lot of pain then got the epidural and it was amazing! Didn’t hurt one bit to get in, worked nearly instantly, I could push really really well, although due to health issues needed the forceps and epistomy and I genuinely felt no pain or discomfort at all it was unbelievable! I also could move my legs (had a walking epidural ) and so wasn’t restricted much at all in being able to move except my hospital make you stay in bed for Labour! Would recommend it to anyone that will listen ha ha! The forceps was nothing to do with the epidural slowing things at all, it was just I have a heart problem and they needed to get baby out fast so I was only allowed push for ten minutes! Anyway, to cut a long story short I never expected the epidural to work half as well as it did and if they hadn’t taken so long to give me it I would have considered it to be a great experience even with the forceps end!!!

My labour was relatively long (12 hrs from epidural) but completely pain free in between the administration of the epidural and the last 5 mins (episiotomy and forceps delivery). It was a very lovely and blissful experience overall. I was in a lot of pain when I arrived at the hospital and demanded an epidural right away, even though I was not fully dilated.

I had an epidural because I was having an emergency c-section. The baby was breech, I was tired as it had been a long labour, they gave me 10 mins to decide whether to have one or not :D

I had no pain relief apart from tens machine to that point, and I didn’t need it. The whole experience was pretty positive.

Is this about pain, or about managing the unknown? It’s understandable to have fear about the experience, particularly given your experience. But epidural might not be the answer. I think getting fixed on birth having to be a certain way is going to make things more not less difficult.

Another post to say epidurals are amazing. I had a back to back labour and when I got mine I relaxed instantly. It was so calm and lovely, I had a button which I didn’t press in the last 30 mins. Only felt a tiny sting. No pain really.

Pushed her out in 23 mins, absolutely loved pushing her out and got to be the first one to touch DD. Sometimes I want to just go back and do it all again! I know I wouldn’t have felt like that with no epidural- I just can’t be bothered with it if I’m honest. You get no medals for saying no to pain relief.

Should mention that I had an epidural at 3cm as that’s when I felt I needed it! It had already taken me over 24 hours to get to that point (and some lovely pethidine inbetween).

OP I really don't want to scare you - so please don't read my post if you don't want to.

My labour came on too quickly for there to be time for an epidural (I almost had to give birth at home, but just made it to hospital by ambulance). I have honestly never experienced such extreme pain as the contractions. Just earth-shatteringly painful. The birth itself was painful, but not as much as the early contractions.

As a midwife I have to tell you that you can’t absolutely rely on having a successful epidural. They can be amazing though if sited too early in labour they can slow things down and lead to more medical intervention.

Talk to your GP and request a referral to a psychologist to explore your feelings and boundaries. Then consider seeing an obstetrician either on the NHS or privately to discuss it all. Many will offer a CS if you have done this. Or you may surprise yourself and find you can face it after all.

The vast majority of women have a normal birth and a healthy baby but nobody can offer you any guarantees other than that you will be kept safe and every effort made to keep you comfortable. Many women are extremely scared and most of them really amaze themselves as to what they can achieve.

They gave me and epidural because my blood pressure spiked and the tablets didn't bring it down. I was numb and couldn't move my left leg at all but still felt strong sciatica type pain up my back and down my right leg with each contraction that turned out to be due to the way he was laying: kind of diagonal and wanting to go down my leg. I ended up with an emcs.

2nd time they kept refusing to give me one for ages. When they finally did the baby was born before it numbed me. It didn't work properly anyway and I could still feel and move my legs as normal.

1st baby - 23 hours in labour, just gas and air (in a Maternity Unit, so no 'good drugs' available). It hurt like a bastard, and no medal was forthcoming - not even a bloody certificate.

2nd baby - 8 hours of labour, had an epidural at 5cm after 5 hours when it was starting to get painful (and I started to remember how bad it was going to get!), once epidural was in, there was a short ceremony where I pledged myself to my Anesthetist for the rest of my life the pain was GONE! I slept for 2.5 hours, woke up feeling the urge to push and she was born shortly after. Bloody marvelous invention.

I would recommend being really open and honest with your Midwife about your fears, they can ensure you get exactly what you need, when you need it.

I had an epidural. The epidural itself was only slightly uncomfortable as they numbed the area with a local anesthetic first. Once it was in I felt a slightly cold tingly sensation then about 5 minutes later I felt absolutely nothing until after baby was born and it wore off.

It wasn’t pain free no... once the epidural was in I could feel pressure and like a stitch feeling on one side. If I moved it went to the other side.

I was terrified of labour with my first and I built it up so much in my head that it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. I managed it all on gas and air (I am one of the biggest whimps you will ever meet) I slept through most of it. I have a phobia of needles and just got to the point where I was going to ask for something stronger than gas and air when I felt the need to push and at that point all the pain went away.
I found it worse with my second because I was induced and from my waters being broken and my DS being born it was 1hr 30mins, so was more intense than with my DD, also all the pain in both labours were in my back rather than my abdomen.
If I was you I would TTC but whilst you are go to a doctor and see if you can be referred for counselling to talk through your fears and concerns.

I had elcs and the epidural was like a perfect, ice cold, gin and tonic being lined in.

I had no pain at any stage. Used the Portland. Superb anaesthetist (who obviously also did NHS but I was out of area).

Betsy, I wince at the very thought of 23 hours in labour. You are one big brave girl.

Mine were pain free. But I’ve heard of others that it didn’t work completely etc. Have you thought about doing a c section? Keeping it pain free does not prevent complications, but I think most people are scared of labour/ giving birth. Maybe not to the extent you are. I understand phobias well as I suffer from emetephobia (vomiting). I hate hospitals and I am a scaredy cat when it comes to giving birth. But I managed to do it 3 times so it can’t be that bad! The third time with no pain relief!!! It was not so bad and imagine, my fear of vomiting is so bad I would rather give birth a out epidural then vomit! Luckily never was sick during any of my pregnancies or labour/ pushing baby out! Anyway; even w out epidural it wasn’t so bad. But everyone has different experiences. I would say make sure you speak to your GP it and get support. I would do this before getting pregnant. Also, once you are pregnant baby will eventually have to come out so no point fearing it. That’s what I told myself: basically there is no turning back! Once pregnant she will have to come out! That helped and surprisingly my mind just dealt with it when going into labour. I’m surprised I managed it three times, really!

I had a walking epidural, helped a bit, but still needed to use gas and air to help with pain relief. I still felt the need to push, and I felt a searing pain which I later found was a second degree tear. I'm quite anaesthetic resistant though. I also needed two doses of local anaesthetic when they were stitching up my tear.

When I complained about the pain the midwife insisted it was pressure not pain, like I wouldn't know the difference hmm

For a long time after my first birth I fantasized about finding the midwife who said similar to me, smashing a baseball bat repeatedly into her face and saying 'no dear, that's not pain you're feeling, it's just the pressure of the bat impacting your face'.

I'm genuinely not normally a violent person but the anger about being treated so badly still hasn't faded.

My epidural was all blissful (I slept!) and I could feel the contractions but not the pain for the first few hours. Then it mostly wore off, or went one sided, so I was left with agonising contractions (sycotin induced, back to back) for hours and midwives who just shrugged and gave me no pain relief whatsoever (not even gas and air). The epidural was numbing at least part of me as I didn't feel the third degree tear which was a blessing I suppose.

I was given all the promises and assurances before hand that they don't leave women in pain (booklets with pain relief options, even), but I'm afraid that wasn't my experience at all.

I'm actually insanely jealous of all the women on this thread who had good epidurals.