So - those of you who DIDN'T have an epidural

[Cleofartra]

.... and are OK about not having had one, and don't feel cheated or traumatised, what do you think made it possible for you to cope without one?

Given the comments on the other thread about giving birth being similar to the pain of a catastrophic injury or having surgery without anaesthesia, women who haven't given birth might be surprised that ANYONE manages without an epidural and comes out the other side with their mental health intact.

So - what made it possible for you to do without an epidural and feel ok about it afterwards?

Short, uncomplicated labour?

High pain thresh-hold?

Good care?

Other pain relief worked well for you?

And it was ilke bad period pains for me. Except the head.

My first was back to back, unbearable pain, and ended up in an emergency c/s. Baby was stuck. My second was different beyond belief. The pain levels never reached anything like that of the first. I avoided an epidural because (a) I was 10cm and fighting the urge to push when I arrived at the hospital which was because (b) it was a fast and uncomplicated labour and (c) I had a fantastic mw who had previously been my community mw with my first so I knew her well and she really helped.

Mostly though I'd say it's because the pain never reached that level where I felt I couldn't cope with it. There were orders of magnitude in the difference in the pain. That is just pure luck really. And I have to say that although it did hurt it was the most amazing experience to actually feel it all.

I won't hesitate to ask for an epidural this time if I feel I can't cope with the pain though. It definitely has its place.

Yes agree we need to accept the limits of the system, but out of practicality and we shouldn't pretend that it's a good way to help women conduct their births - though there are bright spots and amazing people who do understand how to buck their own system and thank goodness for them.

'Our mobile monitor is broken' it's maddening, isn't it, because you can't know, it isn't possible to know if that one practical point changed things for you. [hug]

What really makes me cross is that when you consider the best-odds ways to give birth, there isn't much that isn't known. It's all politics/funding/cognitive dissonance all the way.

I had a vbac for ds2 with only G&A.

I had broken my ankle 8 weeks before and had recovered from surgery with minimum pain relief as pg.

I can honestly say that the labour was not as painful as the recovery from the ortho surgery, so I am guessing I must have a fairly high pain threshold.

I bloody love G&A though . I think it could get me through almost anything

I had no pain relief (no G&A) for either birth.

DD1, determined to avoid it due to longer recovery times, effects on the baby etc. Was a long labour, 36 hours and very traumatic towards the end when the midwives decided that I needed a c-section for no apparent reason and I had half an hour to push her out or it was theatre. Was also bodily flipped on to my back by two midwives despite screaming no and DD had a scalp monitor put on her as she crowned which caused her to turn round, wrap the cord round her neck and born blue with no pulse.

DD2..I am so terrified of midwives I have panic attacks if they touch me. Had HB, midwives were shut in the kitchen. Idealistic hippy birth, including no pain despite her being brow presentation.

I was induced with both of my dc but didn't have the needle just gas and air because I wanted to feel in control.

Howewver it was very painful and at the height of some contractions I really did think I was going to die, it was so bad.

The thing I did have flashbacks about and that made me cry for months after was the stitching. My placenta wouldn't come out and the midwives were not keen to yank it out incase it split. In comes doc who puts his hand up and pulls it out. Then gives me lots of stitches whth legs in stirrups. Haunted me for so long, it was just awful. First time i have ever seen my DH look white - and he is black!!

Had one with DD1 - induced, found it difficult to cope with contractions, typical slow first labour. Was pretty much offered it - told to have it then as dr was on ward anyway or may have to wait, but not pressured
DD2 - very fast, no time
DD3 - expected it to be very fast, wasn't as fast, but felt I could cope (very painful though, was screaming like a banshee)

Didn't feel like i was pushed into it first time or denied anything i may have needed the other two times. Am pretty trusting of medical profession in general - don't buy the conspiracy theory of people being 'tricked out' of pain relief. But lucky to give birth in a small not too busy hospital with long serving, experienced staff on the whole. Had midwife with me the whole time for 2nd and third labours which also helped me know i was doing OK

Straightforward labours - not fast, not massively slow

Loved gas and air

Liked being in the water

Must have a reasonably high pain-threshold, I suppose... never got to the stage when I wanted one

Transition a bit tricky but hey-ho... too late by then!

First birth: baby in good position, no epidural, straightforward natural labour/birth. (Until his shoulders got stuck coming out, but that was just bad luck)

Second birth: Induction due to big baby/previous shulder dystocia. Had an epidural as baby was posterior, contractions were irregular and I had the syntocin drip. Pain was far, FAR worse during this labour than with my previous baby.

In a nutshell; every labour is different and it's so important to keep an open mind!

I thought it was an interesting intellectual experience to give birth! I wanted to know what it felt like and to try to do it with no intervention.

1st one - I didn't want anything more than gas and air beforehand and I stuck to that plan. Epidural just sounded too weird.

2nd one - was much faster than the 1st and didn't even get a chance to use the gas and air.

I wanted one with my first but it didn't work :( I wasn't mentally prepared for the pain and it was awful.

Second labour, I had my own midwife who supported me the whole way through (no gas and air either as this was in US) and helped me get through the fear. I did beg for one during transition but it was too late at that point anyway.

Sorry, I haven't read the other posts but wanted to add my own experience.
For my first (and so far only) birth I planned a homebirth. At first painful contractions, I took 2 paracetamol and attached TENS straightaway. Soon, I threw up in the bathroom, lost it a bit and started begging to go to hospital for epidural. DH focussed me and I started doing hypnobirthing breathing and visualisations. Called MW and found to be 1cm on VE .
Rode out the pain for 6 hours like this (TENS and hypno). Couldn't hack it anymore so got in the birth pool. Lovely pain relief in the water.
Started pushing within 15 mins so called MW back, baby delivered in pool 45 minutes after arrival of MW.
Received Gas and Air and local anaesthetic for stitches. Love that G&A

What made it possible for me to manage without the epidural?

1. Hypnobirthing breathing, relaxation and visualisation, and fantastic support from DH massively took the edge off
2. the MW finding me at 1cm and going back to the hospital meant I somehow had to find a way to deal with the pain as I knew even if I went to hospital they wouldn't give me epidural or even G&A at that point.
3. The speed - all done and dusted in 8 or 9 hours. Don't think I could have hacked it for 12 or 15.

"I thought it was an interesting intellectual experience to give birth! I wanted to know what it felt like and to try to do it with no intervention."

I felt something similar! You're the first person I've heard say something like this.

For me it was a bit of an experiment. I wanted to see how it was to be pushed to the limits of my endurance - to see what emotional and spiritual resources I could call on to help me. Only time in my life I've ever had to tolerate something intolerable - it was very interesting.

I was in labour for 24 hours. I think having horrific period pains helped me to be honest because I spent the whole 24 hours waiting for it to get worse than that and it didn't really.

With both children I was terrified of the big needle, had a desperate need to be in control at all times, and am awfully shy and afraid to stand up for myself. Also I had spent a long time reading about the history of birth and was determined to give the natural option a try. On the face of it had an 'ideal' birth as I entered the hospital at 8centimetres, made very little fuss and delivered a back to back baby with gas and air. But I ended up with PTSD due to my hospital experience as I felt so dreadfully out of control in that environment and with no midwife until ten minutes before I delivered DD. I really enjoyed the first bit though, I loved the fact my body was doing something so primal and without my direct input.

DS was a homebirth, also back to back, also long, but in an environment I could control and being much more prepared. It ended up as an orgasmic or ecstatic birth which was very unexpected-with a post birth 'high' which lasted 6 weeks. Ihad a very supportive DH and mother and midwives who were barely there and have always had the ability to put myself into a trance which helped immeasurably.

My Gran told me prior to birth of my first child that the pain was bad but that it came and went. She also said it wasn't so bad as she said she knew it would stop once the baby was born. I just therefore looked on it as 'good' pain. Plus my thoughts were that millions of women had given birth and they had all survived; I therefore could manage it too....

DC1 - TENS machine and gas and air only for 20 hours. Nothing for the 3 hours of pushing.

DC2 - TENS, gas and air and pethidine (but he was over 11lbs!)

DC3 - TENS, gas and air and pethidine

Really didn't want one with DD1 unless I 'had' to as I was scared about having a huge needle stuck in my back and also someone told me it might make the baby a bit drowsy and harder to BF.

As it happens I had a reasonably quick labour (8hrs) and was 8cm by the time I got to hospital so only got a few puffs of g&a. Oh and she was still really sleepy and hard to BF.

Was soooo looking forward to the g&a with DD2, but ended up having elective CS so had to have big needle in spine after all! :)

Sorry, that should have said 9cm, not 8.

I cant really add much.. all of the previous posters before have pretty much covered it.

DC1 - Nothing...
DC2 - Nothing...
DC3 - Gas and Air

all labours lasted less than 6 hours from start to finish and all babies between 8 and 9lbs (I was told that larger babies are easier to 'birth' and that was certainly my experience). My waters were broken at hospital each time but not until I was fully dilated. It was pretty painful before but once they went, I immediately had the most intense pain I have ever felt accompanied with an overwhelming need to push that I couldn't have resisted even if I wanted to, with DC's arriving within minutes. The urge to push kind of took over so I couldn't focus on the pain or anything else but pushing! I realise I am incredibly lucky, which actually makes me more scared than ever at the prospect of giving birth again in 3 months.... Can I be that lucky a fourth time?

I've had two homebirths with fantastic midwives so even though both started back to back I only needed gas and air. I used a TENS for both but I'm not really sure it helped. Being mobile was very important. I also had aromatherapy oils in the room and that did help relax me. Those are the stratagies I'll use for DC3, so fingers crossed it'll go as well.

I found labour a productive pain in that there was a point to it. I've just had pleurisy and found that so much worse because it just seemed so random and unconnected to anything. However, DH looks very unconvinced when I say that. He remembers things a lot differently to me!

I don't believe in high or low pain thresholds - it's the sheer differences in the levels of pain the human body experiencing that makes one woman knock out a baby on just gas and air and another feel she can't go on without considerably more pain relief.

I felt like I was being electrocuted up my spine with every contraction, it was excruciating. A friend of mine claims that although she has had 2 children she is still waiting for labour to 'get really sore'. Surely our bodies cannot have given us both exactly the same experience!

I had an epidural with DS1 but not with DS2. It hurt just as much (absolute effing agony) but because DS2 was a shorter labour (24hrs as opposed to 48) I was able to hang in for long enough not to need one. Also had much better mw who stayed with me the whole time I was in hospital.

For me the length of the labour was the deciding factor.

With DS1 labour went on for days, so it seemed. He was born at 6.45 am so I was up all night labouring. I'd been up all night the night before too with milder contractions, but enough to stop me sleeping, so by about 2 am on the day he was born I was exhausted - I'd had about 2 hours sleep in 48 hrs. The epidural was heaven sent though DS1 was delivered by forceps. Overall though the birth was uncomplicated and untraumatic.

With Ds2 I managed with just gas and air. I went into labour at about 7 pm, he was born at 2 am the following morning, less than 2 hrs after arriving at hospital. I was much less tired so found the pain more manageable and I was chuffed to get through the birth without major pain relief. The subsequent 2nd degree tear was much much more painful afterwards than my previous episiotomy though, as was the stitching up.

I'm now pg with twins and remain open minded about my labour. I certainly wouldn't rule out an epidural if I felt it necessary, and would much rather that than an elective c section.