Help - Reassurance needed after epidural nightmare

[nerdgirl]

Hi All,

My sister is due in eight weeks. It's her second child. Her first experience of labour was a complete nightmare. But the part that really scares her this time is the epidural.

It first injection worked fine but when she was rushed down for an emergency c-section they gave her a top-up which only worked on her upper body leaving her effectively paralised and unable to speak and alert the medical team that she could feel them cutting her open!! She is understandably terrified of this happening again?

So I offered to post here and find out what you all think she should do? Was it a freak occurance? Is there any reason she should think it would happen again? Has anything similar happened to any of you? What can she do to ensure it doesn't happen again?

oh my god thats awful. You say she could feel them cutting her open!! I know this sounds stupid but was she in pain. Cos I could feel it but wasn't in pain. But I could speak. Its not supposed to go up further than your ribs.

I have never heard of this happening. I certainly have been present when an epidural has not been effective but the woman has been able to let us know. The block is tested by the anaesthetist before the operation starts. An epidural that is not working properly can be converted to a spinal where local anaesthetic is injected a little bit deeper than the epidural tube. The block usually works from the lower part of the body upwards. If the block is too high then women have difficulty breathing which certainly alerts the anaesthetist.

Could it be that your sister had a panic attack because she could feel what was going on and could not speak? I would say that what happened is very unlikely to happen again, however what she needs to do is have a discussion very soon with a consultant anaesthetist from the hospital she is booked in. He could look at her notes and discuss with her how she felt. He could also talk to her about the difference between an epidural and spinal, and what would be done to make sure that she did not have such a terrible experience again.

Is she going to try for a vaginal delivery this time or a repeat C/S?

This sounds really odd to me. When I had my cs the consultant spoke to me to check I had no feeling before progressing - had I been unable to speak I know they would have noticed.

Yes mears is right. Speak to the anaesthetist, tell them about your experience.

I've had 2 elective c/sec and one emergency(2nd). The emergencies are different to the electives, much more confusing and nerve racking.

Thanks for the fast replies girls. I do love this place!

goodkate - she felt actual pain. I get the shivers just thinking about it.

Mears - I was hoping you'd be online now. She is going to try for a vaginal delivery but she's not a big woman and you should have seen the size of my nephew's head. There is NO way he was coming out through normal channels! She's having a scan at 37 weeks to check the size of this babies head.

aloha - I know it sounds very strange. Maybe that means it was just a freak and it won't happen again.

I'll be seeing her on Tuesday and will print off this thread. Thanks for the help.

Mine was an elective - very calm, serene, lots of time, and NO WAY would they have proceeded until they had talked to me and were absolutely sure I couldn't feel a thing. I def think she should talk through her fears and her experience with her consultant and make sure they give her plenty of notice of what they are about to do. It's a shocking story and I'm amazed and horrified by it.

My epidural stopped working so I was given a spinal instead. great care was taken to ensure that I couldn't feel anything- in may different places on the body. They knew exaclty where the sensation started and stoppped. I can'timagine they would have proceeded ifg I hadn't answered them. Maybe mears' suggestion of a panic attack is correct?

A friend of mine moved during her section (tried to sit up when they said "look here's the baby"(!!!) .) Had a sudden massive wave of pain and within seconds was given a GA.

I would do as mears and aloha have suggested and talk in detail about it to someone.

I've had problems with epidurals for both births...If I were to have another baby I would talk to the anesthatist but also make sure that I had a calm fully briefed person that I really trusted with me who I would know was on 'my side'.

Because my aneasthetist knew that I had had problems with the epidural with my first birth when it started to fail with my second birth she accused me of having a panic attack because of what had happened the last time. She said I was being irrational and at one point refused to discuss the situation with me (I was begging to be 'knocked out' ), and asked my husband to make the decisions instead.
It turned out that the epidural catheter had fallen out so I had not been receiving any of the painkiller (I was on an operating table being prepped for a section/assisted delivery at the time) so once this had been discovered (over an hour) the epidural was re-sited and it worked.

As others have said, they will be very sure that you can't feel anything before they do the op. They tested me repeatedly, but if they won't believe the answers you give you need to know you have someone on your side and that you are being listened to...psychological trauma is just as bad as the pain in my case (and is lasting a lot longer).

That's terrible bluebear!!! Mind you I think they forget you are awake and fully aware (with brain function intact) during the section. During my 2nd I heard them say "quick call a consultant- he needs to get here -where is he? well we need him"- before ds2 was out. I aksed them why and got a pat and a "there there dear you don't need to do any worrying". Grrrrr It was only bloody scar tissue- they needed a consultant to check where to cut and how much to leave- if they had TOLD me that I wouldn't have spent 10 minutes of increasing panic! They only told me afterwards grr grrr double grrr. I would talk to someone about that before another section if I ever had another.

Bluebear, what a horrifying experience! I suddenly have the terrible need to punch an aneasthetist! (Can't put a smiley as only half joking)