Epidural - why wouldn't you?

[lbsjob87]

I started a thread on AIBU about pain relief in childbirth yesterday that led me to wonder something. Lots of women said they didn't have an epidural because the idea scared them so much, and I just wondered why?
I am 35 weeks with No 2 and am starting to think about a birth plan (although last time has taught me they are not worth it half the time, but anyway.....)
I'm aiming for a VBAC but may yet be advised to have an ELCS. If I do have a VBAC, I will take it as it comes, if it gets too much, I'll probably have an epidural. Last time, my DD was back to back and had shoulder dystosia and an epidural couldn't come quickly enough.
I know it's personal choice/circumstances but I wondered what frightened people about it? Is it the initial needles in the back, the loss of feeling in the legs or a fear of not being "in control" of the pushing?
Last time was a blur, tbh and I really don't remember much about it.
I'm not trying to scare myself, just wondering what others experiences are.

[MoominAndMiniMoom]

Didn't want to have to be told when to push.
Didn't want a catheter.
Wanted to feel everything.
Part of me just wanted to see if I could do it without sadistically
Didn't want a needle in my back.
Everyone had warned me that with drip induction, I'd "need" an epidural, and I kind of wanted to prove them wrong Especially the woman in the bed opposite, who delighted in telling me horror stories about drip induction, and how I'd definitely need an epidural. It was worth it to see the look on her face when I went onto postnatal ward and described the birth as 'fine'
By the time I was just about getting ready to ask, they checked and I was 10cm (and had been for a while, I just thought I was about to poo so I kept it quiet)
I liked being able to just get up and go for a bath as soon as they'd finished stiching me up. OH helped me wash and get dressed and then we just cuddled with DD, it was one of the best moments of my life.

[Johnthedog]

Pacific interesting about the face bit. That came on later but on the same side. My back was a mess as he had attempted the epidural so many times and failed. Midwives were really upset with anaesthetist but I was too tired to care. Should have taken a pic of my back though as it was black and blue! During the forceps delivery to get ds out, I couldn't feel my chest nor lift my arms properly - that freaked everyone out too! Found out later the consultant anaesthetist I was supposed to have had just committed suicide so the one I had (his close colleague) was not in a good frame of mind. I was unlucky - thought I would put that last sentence in so others can see my experience was not the norm due to the circumstances. I was pretty naff at giving birth and each time went wrong in some way. However all children born healthy and, although it took me a few years to get over the disappointment of completely 'unnatural' births, it really really doesn't matter compared to the rest of your life with them.

[PacificDogwood]

John, that all sound horrific! I am glad you (and your babies) are ok now.
I agree the mode of delivery makes such a small part of what parenthood entails and IMO the main thing for a 'good' birth is to have felt in control of things and well supported.
Some of the stories I read here make me realise how lucky I am to be able to look back at 4 very different deliveries and have fond memories of them all.

And wrt to 'natural': well, the 'natural' thing to happen to DS2 AND me would have been to die (Grade 4 placenta praevia) so thank goodness for the very high-tech delivery I had

[HolidayCriminal]

They must be wonderful when they go well.

Needle in spine scares me a lot, especially as you have to stay rigidly still during insertion & friends told me they were very scared during this procedure about moving even a millimetre.

Horror stories about them going wrong in every possible way.

They take ages to procure (find the doctor), take affect & to wear off.

They can interfere with labour progression.

They interfere with mobility.

I delivered DC4 standing up & it was the easiest birth ever; I feel so bad I didn't discover that with other DC.

[ToffeeMoon]

Steppemum "I also wanted a natural birth...I wanted to push the baby out myself etc."

Do you not think women who have epidurals push the baby out?

To me, if it comes out of your vagina, it's natural.

[OrangeMochaFrappucino]

Scared of needles, scared at the idea of not being able to move, scared of further intervention, scared of bad side effects, as pp have said.

Also, my mum had her first in hospital with an epidural, she's always told me how awful that was - a long labour where she felt she had no control. And it only worked on one side! She then had two quick and easy home births.She always told me giving birth on all fours was so much easier than lying down - it's how I delivered both of mine and I have a horror of ever being made to lie on my back in labour.

I also had a drip induction with my second and was very upset as I thought it would mean an inevitable epidural. As it turned out, I was fine without. The lady I saw later on the postnatal ward had an epidural but it didn't work!

[Sirzy]

I was lucky that whilst waiting to be induced I got the chance to talk to the anethatist about pain relief. He was very matter of fact with the pros and cons and that helped me to decide it wasn't the right form of pain relief for me.

As it happens DS was back to back and didn't turn during labour, according to the midwives if I had had an epidural it would have been very likely I would have ended up with an assisted birth/ CS so I am pleased that I managed to avoid that.

Everyone will make different decisions about what is right for them. There is no right and wrong choice when it comes to pain relief in labour.

[Tealady1983]

No epidural for either of mine. Hated the idea, didn't want a catheter or a drip in hand and wanted to shower afterwards lol mine dd was back to back too but still refused x

[Virgolia]

Harder to push. More likely to have c section.

[Xmasbaby11]

I think epidurals are brilliant - the only thing that made the pain bearable after 24 hours of vomiting and crying through other pain relief attempts. I could still feel, and had been on my bsck anyway. The risks are very low. The first 24 of labouring, however, left me with a severe prolapse. There are plenty of risks with a natural labour too.

[ThatVikRinA22]

would you mind if i asked why you dont want a natural birth?
thought so.
its an individuals right to choose.
i had natural childbirth because thats what i wanted and i coped with it fine.
i did not want to be wired to a monitor
i did not want to be in hospital (i had a hospital birth with my first and a much easier and much more pleasant home birth with my second)
i did not not want to risk assisted birth or being cut and stitched. ( i did not need stitches with either of my natural births)
i did not want the possible complications
i did not want to risk a longer labour
i did not want to have to be told when to push
i did not want to feel nothing


i have nothing against epidurals - it just would not have been right for me in the circumstances.
i had easy labours and births. had i not had i would have considered epidural - but it was my choice at the time and i chose to have natural labours/births and that was right for me.

[coraltoes]

I had a water birth, then 3 deg tear that needed spinal block to fix. Grr. Goddamn the painless ness was amazing for that BUT I didn't like having no control of my lower body so I'd vote no epi if I ever have birth again.

[Holfin]

I wanted an epidural with DC1 but the anaesthetist was not available. No option with DC2 as gave birth in a midwife led unit. I wouldn't have wanted one with DC2 anyway though as I wouldn't want to be immobile if I have a choice.

[nutellacake]

Well, my birth plan was just 'epidural'! I had read enough medical studies to feel comfortable with this choice. In the end, labour was so quick that there was no time to administer it.

Thing is, the reason why people give for not wanting an epidural: they happened to me during my natural labour. I was in so much pain I couldn't tell what was a contraction by the end. I still had to be told when to push. I still had to give birth on my back. I still had a delivery with ventouse and an episiotomy.

Next time, I'm requesting the epidural again!

What I find interesting is that in France, something like 90% births are with an epidural whereas in England it's 30%. The natural birth movement is much stronger here.

[LoveBeingInTheSun]

Because I have a choice; both births were very quick and relation to many and Infact arrived too late for one anyway. You don't get any medals for not having one and it should be down to choice

[LizzieMint]

For me it's not so much that I didn't want an epidural but that I did want an active birth. I wanted to be upright, I wanted to be able to move around, I wanted to be in water. I felt those things would give me the best and easiest birth experience. I was quite open to having pain relief if I needed it, but I wanted to give myself the best chance of avoiding needing it by being mobile and off a bed.

First time didn't quite go to plan as I was induced on the drip but still was upright and mobile and had a pretty straightforward birth on g&a. Second and third were at home in water with nothing. I didn't get anywhere close to needing pain relief other than the water, so it never even figured.

[beccajoh]

Nutella, epidural is the only pain relief available in France. They work on the basis that you either want to pain to stop altogether or you don't.

I loved my epidural! Had no problems with it at all. It injected some calm into what was becoming a very fraught situation for me.

[TobyLerone]

I had an epidural with dc1, almost 15 years ago. It was what all the horror stories would have you believe -- flat on my back, numb from the waist down, catheter, 2 hour pushing stage...

So when I had dc3 5 months ago, I was determined not to have one (dc2 was born 13 years ago with no pain relief at a?l). But dc3 had other ideas and to cut a long story short, I ended up having an epidural.
It was amazing. They started it off very low and I could request top-ups every half hour as needed. I managed to get it kept to a level where I could walk around, go to the loo, change position and still feel every contraction, but not to the point where I was panicking and losing control with the pain. It was absolutely amazing. A totally different experience.
I went from 3cm (where I'd been stuck for 24hrs with ctx every 3 minutes) to 10cm in 4 hours on the drip, and she was born after 7 minutes of pushing with me on my knees.

So they're not all bad!

[weebairn]

I had a long but straightforward labour with DC1, with gas and air. It was about 30 hours and really hard and there were definitely points where I wished I could have had an epidural. Was at home though so it would have meant transferring and I didn't want it that much.

Was very glad I hadn't had one afterwards as I bounced around the house just hours later. I had no desire to be stuck in a hospital bed, catheterised, feeling sick, unable to move at that point!

If I had a complicated labour I would have one. I'm not scared of them. I just like things as low tech as possible and felt keeping everything as low tech as possible contributed to my quick recovery. Obviously I was fortunate to have a straightforward labour, and I had excellent midwives who did the old fashioned support and encouraging thing (I honestly don't know how people get through labour without supportive birth partners). Having said that my labour was already verging on "failure to progress" (awful term) and I do wonder if things would have gone a lot more pear shaped if I'd either been in hospital where they are more pressured to time these things or had an epidural. Who knows...

[Misspilly88]

We've been told that epidural does pass to the baby and can make them lethargic for a week, sometimes leading to trouble breastfeeding.

OP, personally I'm not 'scared' to have an epidural... But I can't think of anything worse than not being able to feel what I'm doing! ...and for all the other reasons above

[guineapig1]

The reasons given by posters above for not wanting an epidural are all personal and of course very valid. The reality is that you pretty much have to keep an open mind however unless I suppose you are prepared and allowed to go straight to c-section if things get too much. Bear in mind that nothing is risk-free

I was very much against an epidural all through my pregnancy and during most of my labour. However after a 36 hour active labour with a 9 lb back to back first baby with just g&a I got "stuck" at 9 cm and was told pretty much told that it was epidural and drip or c-section. Went with the drip as by that time I was in tears with the pain. I could have kissed the anaesthetist. The epidural gave me a bit of a rest from constant contractions until I got to 10cm and I could still feel my toes and feel to push. I still needed an episiotomy and a kiellands forceps delivery but that was in my view to do with the baby's position as he never actually turned due to the cord being round his neck. And you know what, hideous as it was the experience was actually positive, when you're there you just get on with it! We were both fine and I recovered quickly. So, whilst it's fine to have preferences, I really think you have to keep an open mind.

[guineapig1]

Oh and just to add, though I was catheterised it was taken out straight afterwards before I left the delivery suite and I was back on the ward having had a shower they sent dh in to supervise me who sat on the toilet nursing our new baby! within 90 minutes of the delivery.

[dontevenblink]

I didn't feel I needed an epidural with dc1 as I wanted a water birth and I found the contractions bearable with just gas and air (for me being in the birthing pool also helped). However, after almost 4 hours of pushing and no progress (and not being listened too) and suddenly the most horrendous pain in my back (much worse than the contractions for me) I was eventually transferred from the birthing unit to the delivery suite where the consultant found dd was back to back and wedged in my pelvis. I had a spinal in theatre as they were expecting to have to do a C-section and the relief of the spinal was amazing - I kept telling the anaesthetist that I loved him! I have no fear of needles etc, but even if I had I would have accepted any pain relief at that point. They managed to get dd out with an episiotomy and forceps, although her shoulders did get wedged on the way out, so very similar to your birth lbsjob87. I was very traumatised by the end of the birth, but I didn't find the physical recovery bad at all.

With dc2 my labour was very quick so I had no pain relief at all. Waters broke at 2.30 am, but hospital told me to stay at home and ring them at 8am. After an emergency ambulance ride at 7am due to going from 0-10cm incredibly quickly, and my paramedics exclaiming that they didn't want to deliver a baby , ds1 was born at 7.48am. I had shoulder dystocia with ds1 too though (which is apparently very unusual) so I was incredibly lucky we did get to hospital. I found it really great to be able to get straight up, have a bath and then get home in the afternoon, which I obviously couldn't have done with an epidural.

I had a C-section with dc3 due to two previous shoulder dystocia's and will again with dc4, but I didn't find the spinal or catheter painful/uncomfortable and I found the whole thing very relaxing.

I would still go for a vaginal birth given a choice though and I think you have to be prepared for whatever as you never know what you'll want/need until you're in that situation!