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Childbirth

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

Original poster

labour with just gas & air?

114 replies

nataliekristin · 26/02/2015 17:25

my mum thinks I'm mad for thinking I'll be alright with just gas and air! i really don't want an epidural and would prefer to do it using only gas and air, obviously this is just my ideal situation and things can change. I'm a first time mum so I can't imagine what pain I'm in for!!

OP posts:
JugglingLife · 26/02/2015 19:17

No birth plans for any of my 3, I refused point blank on the basis that I would just go with the flow and see what happened. 3 straightforward births with gas and air later I still really do not understand that whole 'plan' thing. Just do what you need to do, it's all about the end result and once you are in labour, plans tend to go out of the window anyway. Good luck honey!

ZenNudist · 26/02/2015 19:31

I got by with just tens with ds1 but it was pretty traumatic. If I'd have got to hospital in time I would have had G&A.

2nd time round I planned home birth so bit of tens then into the pool. I used g&a towards the end and it made ds2's birth quite chilled.

So it can be done. What was your dm's experience of childbirth like?

Stillwishihadabs · 26/02/2015 19:51

2 with g&a, Dm had 3 with g&a Dsis just had her 2nd with TENS which she found very good. Most of my friends had g&a or nothing. Only one of my imeadiate group had an epidural. So certainly doable.

BTW I broke my collar bone when dd was 5m old NOTHING compared to the pain of that.....IMO broken bones hurt so much more than labour.

RavioliOnToast · 26/02/2015 20:46

I had just gas and air with both of my dds, the first was straight forward, stayed at home for most of labour. was only when I started pushing on the loo I figured should go.into hospital, had g&a for about 20 Minutes and she was born ventouse delivery.

DD2 was 25 hours, back to back, had gas and air for 7 hours.

I didn't feel gas and air was easing the pain but for me it enabled me to breathe through my contractions which in turn made them easier to cope with IYSWIM?

You'll know how far gas and air will help you when you're in labour, I was more concerned with not tearing/ needing an episiotomy, thank God neither of them happened.

MrsMinton · 26/02/2015 20:49

G&A with my first DS. Nothing with my second DS because he was in a rush and because it was a home birth too I didn't have time! I did use the G&A for my stitches then though so it didn't go to waste!!

Discobugsacha · 26/02/2015 20:55

Most people give birth with nothing or gas and air. So you can too! I had gas and air with my first but it made me woozy which I didnt like. Second birth was better without.

HollyBdenum · 26/02/2015 20:57

DC 1 with no pain relief, not even gas and air.

DC 2 with natal hypnotherapy and birth pool.

With DC 1, it never hurt enough to be worth the risk of nausea. With DC 2, it did hurt a lot, but my body did this wierd endorphin thing where I went into a state of ecstatic bliss and didn't care. It was what I inagine it feels like to take heroin. So I guess I secreted my own fairly hardcore drugs.

PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom · 26/02/2015 20:59

You really can't know in advance. I've had pain relief, and been fine without pain relief. Same person, same pain threshold, but different babies and different births.

You aren't mad for thinking that you would like to try gas and air. But don't beat yourself up if that isn't the way it goes.

StrawberryTallCake · 26/02/2015 21:01

The first time I had my birth plan written out perfectly, I wanted a water birth, gas and air and a peaceful birth with little intervention. It ended up being an induction but was still very peaceful with gas and air and pethidine. I don't believe to have a calm and peaceful birth it has to be drug free.

Number 2 I just had gas and air but wanted an epidural because, well, why suffer? And dc2 was very big so tough to birth in all ways, I wasn't calm because of the lack of any other drugs and had a worse birth in ways. I'm now left with a minor prolapse because of terrible pushing stage with no advice, help and I panicked and just pushed.

Relax, take what you need when you need. You being calm is the most important thing, it doesn't matter how you get there.

StrawberryTallCake · 26/02/2015 21:02

Sorry if my post is a bit jumbled, it meant well but the rum got in the way.

StrawberryTallCake · 26/02/2015 21:04

Most people give birth with nothing or gas and air. Where is your evidence?

doormouse04 · 26/02/2015 21:08

Go in with an open mind and try to take it as it comes. Did both of mine with gas and air. One was water birth the other was not. One 7 lbs 11 the othe 11lbs something. Did smart a bit, certainly the second one. I eould have had more drugs if i had needed them. Good luck and trust your intincts, everyone will have tales, good and bad to tell, listen to them but not too hard, every birth is unique.....

Flingmoo · 26/02/2015 21:18

I really wish I'd not been taken in by all the antenatal class brainwashing about how great natural pain relief methods are and how epidurals and other pain relief drugs are a options which should ideally be avoided. I wanted gas and air only, I ended up with EVERY type of pain relief available, contractions were agony... I felt a bit rubbish afterwards, not as strong as feeling like I'd "failed" but basically as if I'd gotten C or D on a test instead of an A!

If I could go back in time I'd tell myself to happily accept an epidural at the earliest convenience!

HaveTeaWillSurvive · 26/02/2015 21:19

I only had G&A with DS and it was fine, wasn't being a hero it just worked for me. My birthplan just said I was open to pain relief as required and I'll be putting the same for number 2 - last thing you want is someone arguing the toss with you as your BP says no epidural would like to have seen them try I was drunk as a 14yo on white lightening with the G&A

HaveTeaWillSurvive · 26/02/2015 21:20

Oh and best thing I took away from antenatal class was G&A might make you feel sick on first few puffs but it goes quickly - so true, glad I powered through Grin

Good luck!

worserevived · 26/02/2015 21:23

I had no pain relief at all with my first, and it was fine. Second I was induced, which was much much more painful, but I was happy with just gas and air.

You get the birth you are given, so have an open mind. My SIL wanted a water birth with no pain relief and ended up with an emc. Sometimes things don't go the way you might want.

CunningCat · 26/02/2015 22:35

I had my my first 2 DC's with G&A and was fine, but had to have pethidine for stitches after birth.

HollyBdenum · 27/02/2015 07:47

The way I see it, the amount of pain you will be in depends on all sorts of things - your body, the position of your baby, the position you are in, the environment you are in, and very few of those factors are in your control.

The thing with pain relief (and all the other stuff in a birth plan) is to know the pros and cons in advance so that when you are in labour you know when the time has come for that particular method to be the best option.

There's no point in having an epidural if you feel fine without one, and it's silly refusing an epidural out of some desire not to take the drugs.

Take what you need and no more. You might need nothing, you might need a general anaesthetic. Either of those might be what you need for your best birth.

shelley1977 · 27/02/2015 15:06

Had 4 of my 5 with just gas and air, hoping to manage the same again very soon. I just focused on breathing and keeping calm to help get through the contraction. Weirdly I find the placenta worse to get out than baby!

MabelSideswipe · 27/02/2015 15:21

I work in the field of birth and can confirm that lots of first time mums do give birth with just gas and air. Some manage without even that. When factoring in second and subsequent timers the numbers rise a lot so overall in wouldn't surprise me to hear most women have nothing stronger than g&a.

I think that about 50% of first timers have epidural.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 27/02/2015 15:23

Just gas and air for me and it was perfectly fine. Not painless of course but fine. Of course you can cope!

Tubbytimmy · 27/02/2015 15:24

I had 3 without anything 4th gas and air she Was back to back. It didn't take much pain away but made me giddy in the sense I cared less about the pain if that makes sense.

Chunderella · 27/02/2015 16:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thejoysofboys · 27/02/2015 16:58

First time I had nowt (but G&A for the stitches!!!!). Second time a bit of gas and air towards the end.

It all depends on how your labour goes. Mine were both fairly quick (4hrs for 1st and less than 2hrs for second). You can cope with anything for a short length of time. I think people with longer labours tend to need more pain relief, just to give your body a bit of a break.

Murphy29 · 27/02/2015 17:12

Just gas and air for DS. I was induced at 35 weeks and it was fine. I did ask the midwife how much of the drip I should aim to get through with nothing and that was my target once in labour (was only a few hours but not allowed to do anything other than lie down as DS had to be constantly monitored). I went in to it willing to accept any pain relief though.