no pain relief

[laurenbetto]

What are your opinions on a birth with no pain relief.. wise or silly decision?

Just to be different.....

Open mind is clearly the popular response. However I found this completely at odds with my plan for an unmedicalised birth. Everyone is different, I needed to be completely focused on my breathing and relaxing through the contractions. I didn't want other options made readily available.

I do think it is important to have a variety of coping strategies which you have practised that you are happy with and to think about your plan in an emergency or if the baby isn't well positioned.

There are lots of pain relief options that don't involve medication.

Why do you want to know? When are you due?

Another who would decide at the time.
I had pethidine, gas and air, tens, paracetomol, and begged for an epidural but didn't get one with my first. Had no idea what it was going to be like, so decided at the time what I wanted.

2nd birth, I decided when I was pregnant that I wanted an epidural, and even went as far as seeing the anaesthetist whilst pregnant to make sure I would definitely get an epidural once I went into labour.
I ended up having absolutely no pain relief, even though I begged for an epidural. There just wasn't enough time and I made choices at the time not to have pethidine, gas and air, paracetomol even though they were offered.

I don't think you can predict how you will feel, so you can't possibly know, especially if it's your first baby, what pain relief, if any, you will need and when.

It's YOUR decision above all else.

I wanted as natural a Labour & birth as possible, this was in my notes & the MWs respected that, I had to ask them for gas & air, I was in the pool & I didn't need anything else.

However, if you are induced it can be more painful as your body doesn't get the chance to build up endorphins etc, so more people ask for epidural etc.

My reasons for avoiding drugs during Labour, were to avoid anything affecting the baby, making him drowsy or ill etc.

I'd say go into it positively, but keep an open mind.

Be aware of possible side effects and the fact that drugs & epidural usually increase the chances of interventions, like forceps etc.

If you can manage without then I think you will feel better afterwards. BUT if you need it, have it. The most important thing is not to go in with a strict plan and then feel disappointed if it changes.
I had three very different births, one with epidural, one so fast I had nothing and one with gas and pethadine. Can't say I particularly preferred one labour above the others.
Good luck.

I had gas and air first time round, which I loved (a bit too much )
Second labour I had the same experience as Toddle, i was begging for gas and air but they kept fobbing me off, wouldn't examine me, by the time they did i was fully dilated Got 2 puffs of g and a before it was taken off me for the pushing stage

The thing is ,I was cursing the midwife at the time in my head but actually it was a better labour without the gas and air - i felt more in control of myself, i listened to instructions during the pushing stage and didn't tear, and i can remember the whole thing as wasn't off my face on g&a

I have a 12 week old. Went in with an open mind and planned to work through gas and air, pethedine etc. After 7 hours I opted for an epidural and was so glad! I then thought that I wouldn't have tried any other painful 'procedure' without anaesthetic. No one has their appendix removed without anaesthetic :) try not to make any decisions in advance. Go with the flow when baby shows up

I had no pain relief (including gas and air or paracetamol), so agree that it is possible - BUT I'd agree with all the others that you need to keep an open mind.

We were lucky to have a fantastic experience, but the critical ingredient was good luck, although hypnobirthing, Juju Sundin and physical fitness definitely helped. Plenty of women who are just as prepared end up with trickier births, and it's important to at least be open to the idea of relief, as you don't want to start your first day as a parent feeling like a failure just because you've needed some help in incredibly challenging circumstances.

One other thing that did help me was to ask not to be offered pain relief, I knew my options and was happy to ask for myself if needed. Good luck no matter what happens!

again go in with an open mind

I didnt have a birth plan. I didnt get round to writing it plus I had no clue what to put in it
in my mind it was my first time doing this, the midwives however had delivered millions of babies so I would go with the experts on the day.
I went in with a totally open mind. I wasn't going to rule anything out although pethadine was bottom of my list. when it came to it I was in the pool and asked for g&a. it took 2 hours to get to me so by the time I got it I thought I had coped pretty well without so carried on pain releif free.

I am usually a wimp and have the lowest pain threshold. an hour after giving birth I had stomach cramps and asked for paracetamol and 3 days later I stubbed my toe on the moses basket and it made me cry.

I guess it just depends what your body wants to do on the day.

good luck OP and congrats. its the most rewarding job in the world (even at 5.30am after an hour of settling back to sleep)

I think it would be foolish not to explore your options. I was adamant I'd have none, though I had popped a paracetamol at home when I thought I was just cramping, not in labour. I'm allergic to a lot of drugs so was unable to have any meds and it was terrifying as it was truly the worst pain I've ever experienced. I was counting on a waterbirth but only a bath was available to labour in and I didn't find the water as helpful as I imagined it would be. I'm proud for managing but make no mistake if I'd been allowed meds I would have asked for them, despite my views prior to labour.

I was all set for an induction, prepared to request an epidural, when I had a natural birth in the birth centre. I'm glad I didn't write a birth plan - it would have been written and rewritten many times in those last few weeks.

I was removed from G&A and the pool because my contractions were slowing down, so I ended up giving birth with no pain relief at all after the transition phase. I'm not sure I'd recommend this to anyone - but several weeks later, I can't really recall the pain so clearly. I am left with a significant appreciation of G&A though.

You go with what works for you at the time. It's not heroic or 'better' to go without. You go with whatever means your baby arrives safely, and means that you are as ok as possible.

If you're open to drug free methods of pain relief try a tens machine. Mine was a god-send for giving me a sense of control.

I had ds2 with no pain relief (not by choice I was only in labour 20 mins) and it was ok but I nearly passed out from hyperventilating! Used gas and air with ds3 and it gave me something to focus on breathing properly for or think I'd have done the same!

In some ways I had to make the choice/had the choice forced on me in advance with DD2. I had her in Belgium where the option is epidural or nothing. And I'm a big fat wimp when it comes to needles, especially those going anywhere near my spine. And given the assumption that the staff had that everyone gets the epidural I had to insist repeatedly that I wouldn't be wanting one (that's not saying that I would have been daft if I'd really needed it).

For DD1 I had more options and I'd been advised to treat it like a staircase (tens - gas & air - pethidine - epidural) I got as far as pethidine having skipped the tens step as DD- was early and my tens hadn't been delivered

OP hasn't returned - I suspect this might be a journalist or someone looking for opinions for a project...

Op started this thread less than 24 hours ago.

Not one to make in advance - with DS1 I had gas and air (it made me sick) and an epidural (it gave me shuddering back pains afterwards for months) so with DS2 and DS3 I knew that the pain relief available didnt work well for me - so used water for DS2's birth and just focussed on breathing for DS3's birth (fortunately both of those births were v quick). I have friends who love love loved gas and air and other friends who had no issues after epidurals and had the births they wished for - so you can only find out what works for you when you're actually in labour...

My plan was to see how it went once in labour and I was open to anything if the pain became to much.
As is happened both of my labours where ridiculously fast and I didn't get so much as a sniff of G&A and it wasn't that bad for me, BUT everyone is different.
Don't try to tough it out, if the pain is unbearable use what you need to to get through it.
Someone once said to me "You wouldn't have a tooth taken out without pain relief so why go through labour without any"

Oof, I did it without as it was a bit fast and even the paracetamol had worn off. Not recommended, personally.

I tried G&A but it didn't seem to do anything?