Pain relief at 2cm. What happens if you just NEED it?

[StarlightMcKenzie]

I gave birth in an amazing unit last birth and my birth plan was agreed to say:

No internals. I'm in active labour when I say I am and require any pain relief/birth pool I say I do. Gas and air to be offered on arrival.

I've moved area since and can't get to amazing birth unit so am opting for a homebirth.

How can I ensure a similar arrangement? I know of many places that refuse pain relief if you refuse internals but an internal result has feck all to do with pain levels so it seems barbaric.

Future, I really have no issue with prolonged labour. I far prefer prolonged and manageable to short and unmanageable iyswim.

I do understand about the limited supply of gas and air. But I know the way I deal with labour and I is likely that th biggest need for pain relief will be a the beginning to help me get into the 'zone' at a pace I can manage. Once there, I probably won't need much except breathing, although I like gas and air during the second stage to take th edge of the urge to push for better control.

I think wha I am worried about is not being refused gas and air at 2cm, but being refused a midwife who HAS the gas and air. If the midwife didn't want to stay, woukd she leave it?

StarlightMcKenzie,
A homebirth is nothing like a hospital birth. Most women do not experience the horrific pain levels of a hospital birth. You are in your own space and the midwives are your guests. I had nothing but tens at the homebirth of my second child. I could have had gas and air, but I just didn't need it.

RT, I had a great birth with DD. I had in my birth plan that I was to be offered gas and air on arrival.

This happened and I dismissed the offering midwife as if she was aking me something ludicrous.

BUT, she was an excellently positioned baby with waters in tact until almost the end and it honestly didn't hurt until transition and even then the only thing that bothered me was that I was going to start pushing and didn't believe myself to be even 3cm.

The thing is Midwives, with my first baby (back to back) they DID refuse me pain relief.

I wanted to get in the pool. I was refused on the basis that I wasn't allowed unless I would agree to a bath first and there was someone in it.

So I asked for gas and air. I begged for it. I was told I was making too much noise and should have pethedine before they would allow me to use it.

An hour later I asked for an epidural. I begged and begged and begged every time I saw the midwife who was 'arranging it' for 6.5 hours. I never got it.

So, I see pain relief-refusal, as a pretty fundamental and likely outcome.

This was 5 years ago though so perhaps the NICE guidelines have changed since then!?

Sorry not read all the posts, but just wanted to say that for my hb when the MW arrived, she took one look at me (naked on floor panting like a dog ) and offered me G&a straight away. They did not do an internal for a good couple of hours after that. So in my experience they were not bothered by my dilation as such. Also I went through sit loads of the stuff- 6 canisters!

Good luck!

Oh just read the posts. In respect of running out, I did and the MW just called another MW who brought a couple of more canisters along (and stayed for cake and tea :) ).

Erm I was refused pain relief until I believe 16 hours in and only 5 cm despite cluster contractions 3 or 4 every 10 mins for the duration. Apparently because my labour wasnt established because contractions weren't evenly spaced (they never were even following sintocin (sp)) are you telling me that want normal practice?

Interesting read. I gave birth on the 22nd March and I was refused pain relief (I only wanted gas & air).
I had a back to back labour, which was very painful. I had been at 4cms for hours and was having a contraction every 2 minutes. I was exhausted as the pressure was so intense I couldnt sit or lay down. I was eventually allowed gas & air 16 hours into a 19 hour labour (didnt have any in the last hour) after I completely broke down in tears in front of the midwife. Before that, when I asked for it because I was in pain, the midwife laughed at me and said "of course it hurts, you're in labour".
To be fair, when I told her I needed to push she said I wasn't even nearly there. Then they shift changed and I had a lovely midwife who took one look at me and told me to get pushing!

Sorry.. I clearly needed to get that off my chest!

Good luck with your home birth Starlight, can I also recommend having showers. They helped me so much, really numbed the pain of the contractions and relaxed me enough to feel the baby drop. I think it was the pressure of the water on my back and also the sound of the water splashing...I gave birth in hospital and there was no pool available but in a way it was a good thing as walking around really helped and if I were to have another baby I would probably happily push under the shower as well!

Have a most amazing labour!

I was induced and the pain was horrendous two hours in. I was given paracetamol at first, then the midwife begrudgingly gave me some codeine after I broke down in tears. Did bugger all, the midwife said I was only 2cm dilated and had better get used to it, it was going to get a lot worse, she'd had three kids and she managed!!! Not what you want to hear when it's your first! Four hours later I was told i could have some more paracetamol and the drugs trolley was on its way, it never turned up and DH ended up ringing the MIL who lived 5 mins away from the hospital to bring me some. 30 mins later midwife examined me and said I was 7cm, had to walk doubled over in pain down to the labour ward and finally I got gas and air!

If I have another baby I will be definitely taking a supply of my own pain relief and insisting on getting gas and air a lot sooner.

Felt very unsupported, needy and useless in the early stages. And ended up with a 3b tear to boot!

I'm so sorry OP, I got carried away there.

I will deff be having a home birth next time, I was relaxed at home and did lots of laughing and smiling in between contractions (I was so excited at the thought of meeting my baby)!
I had a TENS which was brilliant, and had baths/ showers which really soothed me. Your body is amazing and will do what it needs to do it's do worth it all in the end!

I think the problem Is this ludicrous "pain relief ladder" theory, so that you don't want to administer to soon to be then left with "nowhere to go later on". Pants IMO. As a serious plan I was going to lay it on extremely heavy and become hysterical and unmanageable unless I got the pain relief I wanted. I was lucky with both hospital and home birth that I had practitioners who believed the level of pain. Lucky.
Horrendous and abuse to deny pain relief. If they do, only think to do I think is make their lives hell and resort to hysteria and histrionics to get what you need.

I think that the refusal to give pain relief is ridiculous.

I cannot think of any other experience in life where you're expected just to put up with it. I know that too much intervention can make things worse, but isn't the point of pain relief that it helps the mother? And isn't it the mother who pretty much has to get the baby out?

Every other medical situation I've been in (thnakfully not many), when I've had considerably less pain, I have been given pain relief as a FIRST step, so that I can then communicate, and talk to the doctors.

With having dd, it was a 'don't make such a fuss' attitude. Why? Because I was in so much pain I actually couldn't even remember where I was/who I was, what was happening, and I assume that it didn't help the labout at all by leaving me in that state for hours.

I've broken bones, had operations go wrong, & had whiplash, and been in nowhere near as much pain as I was when in labour. For all of the other situations there was as much pain relief as I wanted - in fact, far more than I needed. But try passing out from pain while you're having a baby, and you're just making a big fuss.

birdsofshoreandsea and ginger its stories like that that need complaints making.

There is not enough notice taken of women because they are treated like silly girls who don't know it's going to hurt

Op alot is down to the mw you get, it's always their personal views tgat will influence, due you have a good relationship with your mw? Would she sign off your birth plan notes in support of your request?

OhNoMyFanjo- do you think so? I've wanted to complaint since the delivery, I was so shellshocked for a couple of weeks after the birth. I felt like I didn't have the right to complain as I had a natural birth and that I should be feeling thankful (although I wasnt)!
She said the same thing to me, that there was no point in me having it too early as it would stop working. I thought this was bollocks as I quite happily would have had pethidine afterwards if needed!

To be honest, I felt trapped inside my own body as no one was listening to me and I was frightened.

Ginger - how is laughing at you and saying of course it hurts professional or useful? In fact if she had listened she might have figured out you had a back to back baby. It's not always about making a fuss, but about helping them to learn. She went off shift and might not even know what happened to you, how can she learn?

I do get on my soapbox about women not being listened too when in labour

Thank you, that's reassured me enough to follow my gut instinct to make a complaint. I needed to hear from someone else that it wasn't okay! (my husband kept telling me I was lucky not to have intervention so shouldn't bother)

Oh and she knew baby was back to back, didn't seem to make any difference!

Heck after reading the posts above I realise I was very lucky with my lovely MWs who were happy to give me lots of G&A. Slightly apprehensive now as preg with second and can not have a HB this time round :(

Will start practising saying in a very assertive manor 'I need G&A now, can you get it for me please, thank you very much."

Glad I am not the only one who found contractions excruciating at 2cm.

This thread has made me relieved to be in the USA where there's no question of not being given pain relief if you ask for it......consequently both my births have been peaceful experiences that I look back on nostalgically.......I support women doing it medication free but you should get the pain meds when you need them. No wonder so many friends report traumatic birth experiences in the uk if there is this lottery of whether you can get the relief when you need it.
What an earth is causing such a sadistic approach.....labour for me was so painful......I think I would not be looking back so fondly if I had been denied sun relief.

I found an interesting article about denial of pain relief:
www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/childbirth-without-pain-are-epidurals-the-answer/

There is even a book about epidurals mentioned in it.

A while ago I found a public discussion of midwives that was criticizing this message board and how sad it was that women actually wanted to make choices for themselves. It was the most patronizing and misogynist stuff I have read and coming from women!!!! This made me distrust the midwive profession completely and will do my best to avoid being treated by them even if it costs me a lot of money.

BTW. this is the discussion thread of midwives discussing mumsnet discussion:
www.studentmidwife.net/fob/mumsnet-and-the-promotion-of-medicalised-birth-thoughts.69784/

Some quotes:
"Women talking about how there's 'no way on earth' they'd ever consider the 'mental torture' of giving birth without an epidural, one woman saying her husband was offering to pay for an epidural as she was so afraid she wouldn't get one..."

"It could be me writing this post I've been browsing this exact same forum a particular thread about a lady expecting her first baby and demanding a section due to fear she'll have awful experiences like her mum and sister!

The advice she was given really broke my heart! In the end I had to stop reading because I just end up getting so ANGRY and frustrated!"

Yeah, right, it breaks the midwives' heart that she wanted to skip the midwife and take the direct route to ELCS. I wonder what somebody's choice has to do with her heart really.