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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Gas and air - did it work for you?

79 replies

Eeeeeeeek · 10/07/2012 14:09

I am due to have baby#2 soon and although I used gas and air for a short time during my first labour, I didn't find it hugely helpful, but I'm unsure if I used it properly?

I would like to use gas and air again this time, preferably combined with water, and just wondered how effective you all found it during labour? Also did you use it during the pushing stage and if so, how does it work, as you're meant to breathe it through for the whole contraction aren't you?

Thanks in advance

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AngryFeet · 10/07/2012 19:14

I used it along with my tens machine. It worked pretty well but I don't remember large chunks of time because I was so out of it! Didn't like the very dry mouth and throat it gave me though!

trixymalixy · 10/07/2012 19:19

I loooved gas and air

insanityscratching · 10/07/2012 19:25

I loved the gas and air, had the face mask rather than the mouthpiece though put it on the pillow and buried my face in it. Didn't feel a thing MW turned it off at the wall to tell me dd's head had been delivered because I was totally out of it

NoComet · 10/07/2012 19:30

Second time yes, first time no, I just threw up.

Second time I was at home and hadn't just had awful hospital soap

Brices · 10/07/2012 19:31

Thought it was rubbish. With hindsight the pain would have been much worse without. With water birth when I first stepped in glorious. Epidural the best birth by a country mile!

DawnOfTheDee · 10/07/2012 19:32

I tried it and immediately started heaving. Can't describe how awful that felt...the heaving making my stomach muscles contract during a contraction. No no no.

BananaPie · 10/07/2012 19:43

It was great stuff! They took it away from me for the pushing stage though - most disappointing!

amillionyears · 10/07/2012 19:45

It was so good for me,and I used it so much,that the nurse didnt realise I had had too much,and it knocked me out for 4 hours.When I woke up,I had to almost start the labour again from scratch.it then all took so long,that I had to be given something to get me going again,which thankfully worked.

Astr0naut · 10/07/2012 19:56

Yep. I loved it, both times. Again, didn't get to use it at the pushing stage, but with dd, I was allowed to use it while the midwife and her student furtled around and did a bit of stitching.

It's most effective when the contractions have stopped.

Cheekychops84 · 10/07/2012 19:59

Bannanapie they did that to me too! How rude ! Lol

Fiveflowers · 10/07/2012 20:03

The active drug in gas and air is nitrous oxide ('laughing gas'), delivered 50:50 with oxygen. Gas and air is really pretty benign. It provides mild pain relief with some sedation. - quote from MN Live webchat with David Bogod, president-elect of the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association.

I was relieved to read this as for years I couldn't understand why G&A didn't work for me during any of my labours. It calmed me a bit but that was all.

likelucklove · 10/07/2012 20:05

I only has G&A - loved it! Was only pushing for about an hour after a quick induction. Things are a bit fuzzy but I definitely remember holding DD when she was crying, so I sang to her. I would have been mortified if I hadn't been so out of it!

I needed lots of water with it, went through 4 jugs.

Good luck

Cheekychops84 · 10/07/2012 20:07

It also helped my mum when she dislocated her shoulder . In my opinion it is a good form of pain relief but because it gives u the feeling of being drunk it could also have the tendency to make you panick !

BeatriceBean · 10/07/2012 20:09

When I tried it in labour - no.

When I had it for a procedure they had to do a couple of days later - I was completely tripping, wasn't conscious of anything, felt like I was on a carousel as I was coming around, aware of the spinning and horses going up and down before I began to hear voices in the room and then.. pain came back so I grabbed the G and A and tripped again. QUite frightening when the MW first got me to "practice" as I didn't feel I could speak, could just hear the others, and couldn't move or communicate. The MW gave me her hand to squeeze, held it in for me and was so reassuring that as I was beginning to trip she was comforting me, telling me to rest etc whereas I'm pretty sure if they'd been saying anything worrying I'd have been terrified/ had a bad trip.

In retrospect I really wish I'd used the G and A properly for the birth now (I ended up with quite a traumatic birth story). The MW who "tuaght" me to trip explained that so many people who she helps deliver tell her G and A doesn't work for them until she teaches them properly. She said that she had me completely tripping for the procedure which she wouldn't do in a normal labour, as the idea is you come "to" in between contractions, but if I were to have another baby (sadly not to be) I feel I could now coast the contractions with G and A.

I think I had it in my mouth wrong, I was sitting up and holding it and I must have had my teeth over the mouthpeace wrong or something. It begins to knock you out if you have it in constantly...

Jaffacakeeater · 10/07/2012 22:04

Sorry if someone has already said this (didn't read all thread) but the gas and air is marvellous if you start it before the contraction really hits. I'm lucky my sister trained as a midwife and was there when I had my vbac. She watched the monitor and there is a number that begins to rise before you feel any pain. That's when you need to start puffing! Not when the pain starts. It really helps.

SarryB · 10/07/2012 23:38

It helped me in the first few hours, but then the contractions became continuous. And it was great to be in the pool with it too, it made me feel drunk, and I really enjoyed the first part of labour. Looking back, I really shouldn't have got out of the pool.

In the last hour or so there was no break in between contractions, so I was just constantly sucking on the tube and begging for morphine in between breaths. It did help me focus though, and gave my partner something to do - he held the tube to my mouth and shoved in it when I wanted. Ace!

SarryB · 10/07/2012 23:42

Also, I found it my my voice sound really deep to me - apparently sounded normal to everyone else!

janji · 10/07/2012 23:59

Used gas n air and tens machine for both ds and dd births. Really effective!

rogersmellyonthetelly · 11/07/2012 07:40

I used it for both mine and will be using it again. Both mine have been long (48 hours first time and 12 hours second time in proper screaming painful labour) and it helped me get to the stage where I could have the epidural without going insane from the pain.
I found if I breathed in and out with the mouthpiece as deep as I could and as fast as I could as soon as i felt a contraction start then when I got to the fuzzy floaty place I could slow down and breathe normally until it finished. I did feel sick, but since I was sick anyway in labour it didn't bother me

MrsHoarder · 11/07/2012 08:22

Gas and air gave me something to focus on whilst my epidural was put in. After the birth though, it was fab whilst the doctors stitched me up. Too high to hold DS until I was all in one piece again though.

CailinDana · 11/07/2012 09:15

I found it absolutely fantastic. I was at about 5cms and I was really struggling and considering an epidural (despite my extreme fear of it) when the MW gave me the GandA and within 3 minutes I was calm and managing fine. It does take some getting used to and you have to use it properly for it to work I think - if you breathe it constantly it just sends you loopy and makes you feel sick. The way I used it was as soon as I felt a contraction starting to build I took two big deep breaths then stopped, which meant I had enough in my system for the peak of the contraction and once it was over it was out of my system and I was back to normal. It didn't help the pain it just stopped me panicking which meant I was far far more able to cope. I felt relaxed and in control and that really helped.

Give it a try, give it a few goes and see what happens. It doesn't work for everyone.

bringbacksideburns · 11/07/2012 09:19

Arrived at hospital fully dilated (stuck in traffic. What a nightmare!) and my dd arrived thirty minutes later. The first thing i grabbed was the gas and air to calm me down and it took the edge off the sharpness of the pains - wonderful stuff.

It's all in the timing of the puffs - when you feel the pain ascending suck it up. Really helped me.

CherryBlossom27 · 11/07/2012 09:24

I found gas and air helped. I'm not sure how much it helped with the pain relief, but it helped me to focus on breathing in and out as I was trying to breathe in as much of it as I could :o I also found it good as I could bite down on the tube as well!

My friend was sick about 8 times when she tried gas and air, so I think try it and see how you get on, everyone has different experiences of it.

jeee · 11/07/2012 09:27

Gas and air is brilliant. I actually had a wrestling match over it with the midwife when I was giving birth to DC2, as she wanted me to listen to her, and I was only focusing on the G & A.

modifiedmum · 11/07/2012 09:32

Didn't help me, just kept biting the mouth piece off and made me feel sick and drunk, by the pushing stage it was getting on my nerves so i told partner at the time to shove it up his arse :o

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