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Original poster

Why couldn't Bridget Jones have drugs during the birth of the baby???

44 replies

IcedSpice · 02/07/2021 21:00

So I am watching Brisget Joneses Baby, and the Dr has said, oh you're 8cm silted, you can't have any drugs.

I was 8cm with my first, and I got pethidine and gas and air!!

OP posts:
Original poster
IcedSpice · 02/07/2021 21:01

Dilated not silted

OP posts:
osbertthesyrianhamster · 02/07/2021 21:02

Because it's a stupid AF film.

Getyourarseofffthequattro · 02/07/2021 21:02

Perhaps her midwives were shit and didn't believe her when she said she was going to push and left her to give birth on induction on two sodding paracetamol oh no I am not bitter about my experience at all

But no generally when you're very far on they don't bother do they though I'd have thought you could have gas at whatever stage.

ofwarren · 02/07/2021 21:03

Pethedine at 8cm? It makes babies sleepy so isn't recommend after 7 cm.
Gas and air can be at any point though.

Mummyof2andapig · 02/07/2021 21:03

I’m not sure they like giving pethidine late on because it can make the baby ‘floppy’ and cause breathing problems meaning they’re more likely to be taken to the neonatal unit

Not sure why she couldn’t have gas and air though! Artistic license!

tywysoges · 02/07/2021 21:05

^^ I was told the same, that it would make the baby sleepy.

Theimpossiblegirl · 02/07/2021 21:06

I got to hospital too late for anything but a few puffs of gas and air before the pushing started. But that was with my second.

Pikachusbutt · 02/07/2021 21:07

You can't have an epidural when you're that far gone can you?

JuneBugHug · 02/07/2021 21:08

I was told some as above and epidural discouraged after a certain point (can't remember what now) because it can slow down labour.

JoeMaplin · 02/07/2021 21:08

I got to hospital about 15 minutes before no 3 arrived. I had gas and air!

TheCanyon · 02/07/2021 21:20

I've had 4 babies at two different hospitals (different trusts) and got feck all offered but gas and air, which makes me vomit and freezing cold, got told I wasnt allowed anything else every time. Got an ibuprofen stuffed up my ease without consent afterwards 3 out of 4 times though Hmm

TheCanyon · 02/07/2021 21:21

My ease is absolutely my arse. Probably not the easiest of options at the time either Grin

DecorChange · 02/07/2021 21:27

They wouldn't give me anything at 6cm apart from gas and air. Good job too as labour was only an hour. Didn't know untill I was already 6cm

aloeavera · 02/07/2021 21:32

I was refused pethidine at 7cm dilated as it makes baby sleepy I was told and I was given a choice to choose between gas and air or epidural. I went for the epidural (thank god).

youngandbroken · 02/07/2021 21:34

They wouldn't give me anything because I was progressing too fast (they didn't even believe I was in labour until I was 9cm Sad), I think pethidine takes a certain length of time to work as well? But it's just a film so there probably wasn't a reason other than it added something to the story.

Wriggleon · 02/07/2021 21:34

Got pethidene about an hour before baby born, they were getting a 2 nd dose ready when baby was born, they didn't realise how far labour had progressed. Baby was not sleepy!

TentTalk · 02/07/2021 21:35

Maybe she had the same birthing team as me? "You're progressing too quickly for an epidural" 4 hours in to a 21+ hour active labour...

BogRollBOGOF · 02/07/2021 21:38

Pethadine doesn't do anything anyway. Just locks you in with the pain so you feel like you're on fire from ribs to your knees, but unable to actually do or say anything about it. Vile stuff.

ExtraOnions · 02/07/2021 21:40

I was 8cm when I was first examined … too late for any drugs. I tried gas & air but didn’t like it, so had an drug free birth (I would have had something had I been in earlier)

CustardGoodJamGoodMeatGood · 02/07/2021 21:40

I had pethidine as I was only 3cm but all the pain was in back, labour progressed really quickly so they said the pethidine could be in her system still and she could be sleepy, she was fine though!

BounceyBumblebee · 02/07/2021 21:43

Pethadine doesn't do anything anyway. Just locks you in with the pain so you feel like you're on fire from ribs to your knees, but unable to actually do or say anything about it. Vile stuff.

That is only your experience. It took the edge of for me and kept me calmer. It didn't feel like it at the time, but when I had another baby without it, I realised how much it had helped.

rainyskylight · 02/07/2021 21:44

I was 7cm and progressing quickly when first examined. I was offered gas and the pool, on the basis that I was too far along for anything else. I was pushing before the pool was filled. If I'd asked specifically for an epidural I think they have to offer it or at least discuss, but I think they "managed" the conversation so that I didn't ask.

Skiptheheartsandflowers · 02/07/2021 21:46

Narrative tension. Plus it's perfectly believable that some doctor would have a dubious reason why you couldn't have pain relief.

goose1964 · 02/07/2021 21:48

Both my daughter and I went from 7cm to 10cm in a couple of contractions, They gave me pethedine as my contractions were having contractions. DD was born about quarter of an hour later, she needed the reversal . Mind you they'd been inducing me for 2 days and she'd been threatened with a section

SmidgenofaPigeon · 02/07/2021 21:50

It is a stupid film, and I think she was 44 when she was giving birth, would she have had a booked c-section? I hate the fact that when she goes into labour she’s immediately incapable of walking and she lives a stone’s throw from Guys hospital so I have no idea why they made a song and dance about getting to hospital. It’s practically just the other side of the road!