Pain-killer during birth

[Lil]

I can't believe theres no thread on this already, but I must ask the question.. can anyone remember whether or not Pethedine actually worked for them or not?

I have been reading the books again(!) and they all say that Pethedine makes you woozy and affects the baby but not much on how good its pain-killing effects are. In fact they seem quite anti. For an unbiased view, what do you all think?

I used only Pethedine and gas 'n air last time, and I remember thinking that there was no drop in pain when I was given the pethedine injection at 5cm dilated. But then I will never know if it would have been worse with out it would I???

I am trying to work out whether to bother having it this time around - I am totally pragmatic and hate pain as much as the next person, but epidurals scare the hell out of me and I'm hoping to get by without again. I do remember that the pethedine DID make me feel out of it, but hey that's not a bad thing!!

I went mad when they tried to take the gas and air away. In the end they just unclamped the nozzle thing from the canister. It took me a while to realise...but too late by then!

I only had g&a and tens machine, but I did ask for an epidural at some point (but I was already 8 cm so was advised against it) and pethidine (whichc was the thing I had firmly decided NOT have for the possible effects on the baby), but I did leave bite marks on the mouthpiece....(and I wasn't allowed to keep it while pushing, I just screamed like a wild animal....)

Reading this brings it all back ... I went in determined to have everything possible being utterly terrified of pain (other than an epi because they don't offer mobile ones here and I get v claustrophobic and couldn't bear the thought of being immobilised). The pool was wonderful and I had some g&a there but found that I really disliked the sensation it produced. I only came out the pool because the m/w promised that I could have morphine. Unfortunately when she examined me I was already 10cm so that was that and I wasn't allowed back in the pool (don't know why that is). So the rest proceeded with nothing - they confiscated the g&a because I stopped pushing. Given that the whole process took 2 hours from start to finish it does make me wonder about the next time... However, the no medication bonus was a very alert baby who fed well from the start and a fairly (!) alert mother with no post-medication hangover. So from being utterly convinced of the need for pain relief I would have to say that I would consider trying to have nothing/not more than g&a the next time.

Strange, I was allowed to keep the G&A during pushing, but I still screamed anyway. Problem was I screamed thru' the mouthpiece, which seemed to echo down the pipework and sound quite eerie. I was pretty embarrassed afterwards when reception told me they could hear me!! Screaming does help though doesn't it, shame its not less embarrassing - I still don't understand the breathing method!!

I had Gas and Air right throughout and loved it -just wish I could have a canister with me at work before having to speak to my colleagues!

I used TENS and then a birthing pool and was okay with that (I'm a total sissy when it comes to pain btw !). I have heard of friends that found Pethadine made things worse as they felt so out of control...

BossyKate - I forgot the syntocin drip - yup, I ended up with one of them too, as the labour was taking so long, and boy! doesn't it make the pain worse!
The labour took so long I had lots of different midwives, most of whom didn't read my notes, and one thing I remember really clearly was hearing a scream in the corridor outside and my midwife of the moment saying 'Now that's someone who's not having pain relief' in an admiring tone. ie. stop whinging you cowardly lump with an epidural!
Not very supportive and just one of the reasons why I won't return to that hospital for a second child.

Hey bells2 - if gas & air was for sale in clubs and teenagers liked it, it would soon be made illegal wouldn't it?? Far out - LOL!!

i was "transfer from home" - after hours of agonising pain, the community midwives were insisting that i was not yet in established labour so they would not come and assess me - bringing the gas and air. so all i had was paracetamol and homeopathic remedies until i got to hospital. ha! turns out ds was OP (back labour) so although i think they were technically correct, ds's attempts to manoeuvre himself around were causing me a lot of what they like to call "discomfort". anyway, rambling now, so will come to the point, i found the community midwives a fairly unsympathetic bunch (with exceptions), but the hospital ones were marvellous. i was in labour during three shifts so we saw a lot of different staff, who were all kind and supportive. they tried everything to keep me to my birthplan and prevent resorting to a c section. you hear so many terrible stories about women's experiences in hospital (which was why i had wanted a homebirth in the first place) - the staff where i was were marvellous. i see have gone rambling on again!

No Pamina, no gas and air for the pushing part. Wasnt told I couldnt have it though, just didnt use it.

From another angle I can recommend so much spinal anaesthetic that they could saw you in half and you wouldn't know about it...I had an elective c-section for persistent transverse lie. My hospital had a policy of spinal versus epidural for c-sections because they felt they were less prone to complications.
If anyone else out there is in the same position make sure they give Voltarol post-operatively, it really helps with the immediate pain relief. And get a sack of co-proxamol to go home with. I used my left-overs for headaches for about a year afterwards and was humiliated when I asked for what is apparently a mega-painkiller over the counter at Boots when I finally ran out. Talk about being made to feel like a junkie.

I honestly thought they were having a sick joke when they mentioned taking away the gas and air!!

Started off with Tens at home, load of rubbish but some to concentrate on. Got to hospital to be told not dilating then 30 minutes later proceeded to go from 0-6 in 45 minutes started off with G&A and begged for an epidural "sorry no one to give it to you" was hospital's reply - carried on begging even though Midwife and DP saying you dont need it (what do they know!) finally got one - though I still think until this day that it was a tiny one (if that exists) as I could still feel contractions coming and my legs/toes moved throughout nothing went numb, however it did slow things down and I needed a drip to speed up contractions and I ended up pushing from 1 am until 5.40 am before beautiful ds was born - so I reckon you can only go with what happens dont plan to have anything but dont rule out anything either. Good luck and I hope to join you myself when I eventually conceive again!!!

I'm another who had to have two epidurals each time. I had all the standard problems - one sided effect, epidurals falling out, blood pressure dropping too far (this can be a common problem if your blood pressure is low anyway).
In my experience, you have to voice your opinion/pain loud and clear because it takes time to get the anaesthetists.
Having said that, I'd still go for epidurals. I react very strongly to any painkillers - even Nurofen knocks me out, so pethedine and so on weren't an option - the epidural was the only thing that would leave me clear-headed. I agree that they can be scary, but my second one in particular was a dream - in the end, I could push sufficiently but feel no pain. The ideal birth. Still makes me smile to remember it.

I forgot that when in labour with dd, they took the G&A off me because dd was distressed, they put monitors on her head, gave me oxygen and topped up the epidural. By the time breakfast came round (about 8 or 9 hrs later) I still couldn't feel my legs. I had to have 2 nursing assistants help me to the loo.

When ds was born I was allowed to keep the G&A the whole time, even through the pushing stage.

Looking back on things, I would have thought that with dd having a traumatic birth she would be the one to have problems immediately, her only problem was that she wasn't as warm as she should have been. When ds was born with only G&A he was the one we were worrying about as he wasn't breathing.

I think the ward ran out when I came to the pushing stage, I had used so much.

The wife of a work colleague had her baby this morning - she didn't have time for anything, infact she hardly had time to get on the bed. They arrived at hospital at 8.50am and baby was born at 9.15am - wouldn't it be great if they were all that quick!

Very late to this debate but I would just like to add my own comments. I had pethidine - against my best instincts. It made me vomit and feel hideously drugged. Vommed so badly they had to give me an anti-emetic. G&A was utterly useless for me. It made my mouth so dry that I stopped sucking on it and I honestly could not tell the difference. My epidural failed after 3 hours as the shunt was not fitted correctly, so the top ups were ineffectual. Ended up with full spinal block for ventouse & forceps delivery. Realise on reading these comments that I should be thankful for that as some of you had forceps without any proper pain relief.
Delivery of number two is looming in about 10 weeks and I am totally freaked out about what to do!!!

Hey Bugsy, 9 weeks 'til the big day for me! Can you believe its gone so quickly? I keep having visions of giving birth so fast (a la Bells) that I end up prostrate on the bathroom floor minus a hubby, but with a toddler tearing around the house, unchecked..

and this time I KNOW its gonna be b***y painful!!

Lil this could be confusing!

I was walking around town in the beginning, in the bath in the middle then went to the hospital (tip for the future don't go when the football kicks out!). Was doing fine on G&A (which didn't do anything except give me something to do and send dh high) but all that poking bump telling him to get out meant ds was in a rush to leave (he'd let the plug out of his bath!) so I wasn't dilating fast enough for my contractions. Remember hearing dh moaning about missing Match of the Day as they hooked me up to syntocin drip and then gave me pethadine which sent me to sleep. Two hours of blissful slip later they woke me up to take me to the delivery suite to push. Labour great, stitches hell and they took away the G&A. Can certainly recommend pethadine as it had loads of effect on me and ds was fine - he came out and spent the next half an hour looking around him. The midwife said he was one of the most alert babies she had ever seen.

Another thing I want to be like my best friend on her second. She went to the toilet in the middle of the night, thought something was funny, felt between her legs and there was Amy's head. By the time her dh had ran next door to get the nurse she was holding Amy! Mind you she did say it traumatised her more than the 36 hour labour with the first (Jessica).

I have thought it might be a good plan to have a trial run of pethidine when you're not pregnant to see if it suits you.
Seems from what I have heard ( no personal experience)it is either wonderful or awful/extremely nauseating.

By the way I am kidding of course.

I really liked having pethidine for my 2 normal deliveries - in fact, only had the second so I could get some. Just kidding but it really worked for me, could still feel and know everything but didn't mind the pain.