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Childbirth

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

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Original poster

Did your epidural work well?

118 replies

JellyNump · 14/05/2006 16:28

I have had 2 epidurals and both times they got rid of the pain of the contractions but the pain of the baby coming out (stretching etc) it seemed to do nothng for? Is this 'normal'? It may just be me?

OP posts:

waterfalls · 15/05/2006 13:45

The anethatist gave me an epidural when I was in labour with dts, 45 minutes later the surgeon came to see me, and was livid that I was still in agony and using gas and air, he demanded one of the midwives to go and fetch the anethatist back to give me more....................20 minutes later......pure bliss

satine · 15/05/2006 13:47

I reckon my dh would be very very keen for me to have an epidural if we had another baby - not that he would want to impose unecessary risks or anything, but it must have been pretty grim for him watching me screeching like a banshee and pleading with him, my mum and the mw to DO SOMETHING (er- what, exactly? ) for hours. Much better the calm, chatty post ep wife!

LeahE · 15/05/2006 13:49

It worked once it was in, but it took over an hour and a consultant anaesthetist to get it in (apparently my epidural cavity isn't in the usual place, or something) in which time I'd gone from 5cm to fully dilated...

monkeytrousers · 15/05/2006 13:56

Me too Jelly. Great for contractions but felt like I was being ripped asunder for the rest of it.

Original poster

JellyNump · 15/05/2006 15:08

Morethan1 - I wanted my epidural as soon as I got to the hospital this time round but midwives said they don't like to do it as it can make contractions mild or stop. I kept being told different things tho. I didn't have 1 midwife I saw all the time, there was a team of them, so I saw a different one at each appointnment and 1 said that as I had been quick first time, I might be able to have it as soon as I got to the hospital the 2nd time but when I went into the hospital all my midwives who were on duty were busy, so I had 2 hospital staff midwives.

OP posts:

sfxmum · 15/05/2006 15:13

had an epidural after being in labour for well over 30 hrs it worked well and i suffered no obvious side effects. i did manage to push dd out and suffered a small tear, again no problems after.
having said that, had the labour been shorter i would not have had one. here is hoping for next time

controlfreaky · 15/05/2006 15:14

fennel · 15/05/2006 15:24

had 3 failed epidurals with dd2, after a 3 hour wait for the consultant. the 4th one worked, a mere 5 hours after requesting the epidural. not sure if it was worth the wait, it was lovely while it lasted but a long time coming.

Uwila · 15/05/2006 15:31

Mine only worked on one side, I told the midwife, who got the anaesthetist back in to fix it. Then it worked fine. But I ended up with a GA for an emergency section anyway.

Second birth (elective section) the epidural and block worked fine.

YummyMummy87 · 15/05/2006 15:32

I had an epidural at 6 cm. What I didnt know is that my baby was lay posterior (back to back) therefore it would be hard to push her out as she was crowning from the front of her head and her bones wouldnt overlap. I knew there was a risk of the epidural stopping my labour, but didnt think it would happen to me. My labour stopped at 10cm I had been pushing for 1 and a half hours. I was induced which failed to work, then taken to theatre for a vontouse, which also failed. I had an emergency ceasarean (my baby was distressed after the vontouse) from a spinal block as the only thing the epidural did was make my legs heavy... I still felt the pain down one side which was extremely distressing, and had back pains for a few months afterwards.

sottovoce · 15/05/2006 19:00

I lost some pain but had terrible pressure in my bottom (sorry if TMI) and didn't feel terribly comfortable at all. The anaesthetist kept spraying me with that cold stuff asnd saying "You've got a really good block, why are you moaning?" but I thought it would be pain free. It was far from it.

By the time I got to theatre for my em CS, they had sorted the block and I couldn't feel a thing. Would definitely do the epi again though - thought I was going to rip in half beforehand and even limited relief was worth it.

biglips · 15/05/2006 19:01

oh yeah.. deffo worked as couldnt feel a thing!

muma3 · 15/05/2006 19:04

couldn't feel a thing but have had bad back since
had episiotomy too and never felt that , along with ventouse and forceps . worked wondors. only bad thing was the catheter and not being able to get outta bed

blueteddy · 15/05/2006 19:08

My first epidural was great - it worked really well, but they let it wear off for the pushing stage, so to try & avoid the chances of me needing forceps or ventouse during delivery.
It worked, as I pushed DS1 out with no problems & didn't even need stitches.
My second epidural wasn't so great, as it just didn't work and I was left alone in the delivery room in absolute agony (everyone had left the room assuming I had my epidural & was fine!) & I felt every bit of the second stage of labour. DS2 arrived naturally though & again I didn't need stitches.

monkeytrousers · 15/05/2006 21:33

After my line was in I could top up whenever I liked and it still wasn't strong enough. Mind you, DS was 10lb+

louise35 · 15/05/2006 22:47

Seems like many of us have had similar experiences with it only numbing certain parts and not others. In a way I wish I'd never bothered having the epidural, when I look back on it all I really ended up with was numb legs. I'm glad I never chose to have it topped up as I wanted to experiences the pushing part which to me wasn't too bad. The stretching bit really just felt like an intense burning sensation. The next involuntary top up (see previous post re bossy anaesthetist and subsequent stitches) spoiled things for me as it didn't numb where needed and I had to have the bloody local anaesthetic for the stitches anyway and because of my numb legs I could not even go back down to the ward in a chair, I had to be wheeled down on a stretcher because I was in effect, paralysed from the waist down and then I could not even look after my DD properly due to being unable to move. My poor DD was taken away from me for the first night and fed with a cup which I was really peed off about. So I think if I were ever lucky enough to become pregnant again I would have to seriously think about whether I would want an epidural again. Of course it works miracles for some people, just not for me

louise35 · 15/05/2006 22:55

After saying all that though, I think it did ease things a little through the transition stage, but thats the only really good thing I can remember about it.

jamese · 16/05/2006 09:26

I was given an epidural as soon as my waters broke (very low pain thresshold and knew I wanted one). BUT I went completly numb within minutues so they took it out and resited it. I didn't feel anything for several hours, right up until I had to start pushing and then suddendly horrendous pain...

I turned out that the 2nd one hadn't worked - couldn't be topped up and ended up wanting to give me a Caesauren(?) by spinal block but even they couldn't even do that as my back was messed up from the epidurals...

Very painful by then, very painful having endless needles stuck in my back.

DD got stuck, so they ended up giving me a general A with CSection.

To top it all - the epidural gave me a migraine after and I had to go back to theatre to have a blood tap (they take blood from your arm and stick in back in the hole the epidural made).

Another very painfull experience - I had to have gas and air for that (I believe the only person to have had this - god I am such a wimp).

So for me epidurals horrendous - would never do it again, would never want a needle anywhere near my back and therefore no more children for me..

I was told that next time I wanted a child I would have to have a GA CS. But I don't trust them!!!

TuttiFrutti · 16/05/2006 10:00

From reading other people's experiences, it sounds to me as if it's all down to the skill of the anaesthetist who happens to be on duty that day.

When I finally go to a delivery room, the midwife said "Oh you're in luck, Graham's on today and he's our best anaesthetist". I never felt a thing when he put the needle in, and it did everything an epidural is meant to do. When I eventually got to the operating theatre for a C-section, the surgeon looked at my back and said "What a good job - is that one of Graham's?"

It made me wonder what would have happened if it had been Graham's day off. Perhaps I would have had, like some of you on this thread, epi only working down one side or only numbing my legs.

NatalieJane · 16/05/2006 10:01

Yes it worked very well, after I had given birth and wanted to walk back down to the ward and couldn't...

oliveoil · 16/05/2006 10:06

dd1 - had epidural, which slowed my labour down, so they gave me a drip to speed it up, which meant dd1 was in distress and needed OUT, hence emergency section under GA so I didn't see or hear her come into the world.

dd2 - had just g&a, as I wanted to try and hold off an epidural. However, was screeching for one later but dd2 arrived too quick. Felt everything but the labour was far better imo.

I think epidurals may take away the pain but they can ruin your delivery imo. It most definitely was the cause of my section as I was labouring fine until I had it.

sparklemagic · 16/05/2006 10:20

I think you're right Olive, that epidural can 'ruin' a normal labour, ie slow contractions down etc. But in a situation like mine my god it was a lifesaver...I had my epidural after 42 hours of agony, no sleep - my baby was 'back to back' presentation and after 42 hours of solid, constant labour I was still only 5 cms dilated....when the pain went I was more grateful than I have ever been for anything in my life!

The hospital were reluctant to give an epidural until this stage when I think it was obvious that mine was not a normal labour.

And in case anyone's worried about actually having the injection - believe me the pain of a needle is NOTHING to strong labour!!!

compo · 16/05/2006 10:22

I had to have 2 epidurals as the first one only worked down one side. It did take away all the pain but the only downside was because I'd had 2 it wasn't util the next day that I got all feeling back and 2 nurses had to help me to get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't get ds out of the cot by myself

tinymiaow · 16/05/2006 10:45

I had an epidural both times, and both times it worked on one side far more then the other. The 2nd one caused a DURAL RUPTURE HEADACHE.

Yikes - unable to sit or stand, if I did then spontaneous projectile vomit! Headache? Ha. It truly felt like being hit, nay, whacked on the back of the head with an iron bar.

The ONLY treatments are 1. stay horizontal for ONE WEEK - fine, but who is gonna take care of your new, tiny baby? or 2. a 'blood patch' - they take blood from your arm and inject it into the epidural site so that the clotted blood seals the hole in your dural membrane.

Painkillers DO NOT WORK. Do not let your hospital kid you... THE DRUGS DON'T WORK! I went for option 2, and each time it lasted 24 to 36 hours, so I had 3 patches. Eventually, after the last one wore off, I was able to control the pain by taking 2xIbuprofen plus 2xParacetamol every 4 hours.

After about a week I was good as new! Running around, wearing high heels - but I did have a swelling and tenderness around the epidural site.

That said, I would advise anyone to have an epidural plus an induction - thus super fast labour without pain! My friend had the best time that way at The Portland... her anaesthetist was actually fantastic!

MadamePlatypus · 16/05/2006 11:02

I think I had a partial epidural (if such a thing exists?) It may be the same as a mobile epidural? It was topped up by the midwife, but it was only intended to dull the pain, not remove it completely, as I think they were concerned that this would make my pushing inefficient.

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