Epidural or not to epidural - that is the question. Advice needed, pro & con from both sides please!

[oliveoil]

I had an emergency c with dd 18 months ago and have been umming and arrhing about my second due in August. Midwife and docs I have seen say that 'there doesn't seem a reason on your notes' not to be able to have a vaginal birth this time round, it was only dd being in distress that meant she had to come out pronto.

I am not sure whether to go for an epidural again this time round, I think it may have slowed down my labour and may have caused the problems I had (m/w reckons not however...).

Thoughts needed from both corners please - have you had two labours and had an epi for one and not the other? How do they compare?

Also thoughts from the experts Mears and Prufrock and any other midwives or doulas etc please.

Bearing in mind I have a VERY low pain threshold and am a wuss so this may be all academic reasearch in the end.

That's awful Sophable, no wonder you were angry, your poor sister.

Second stage, frankly, is where you want to crap and if you're under the influence of as much gas and air think the baby's head is, in fact, a massive poo

motherinferior!

I've been caught out like this even on baby 3, thinking, must just go for a quick poo before the baby's born so that I don't have an accident as the baby comes out, and then finding myself stuck in the bathroom with the head crowning... dur...

I had one for DS1 - the Dr advised me to after being in labour (induced)fpr several hours and only being 4cm dilated. It was like magic! However, I did feel really sore afterwards and had obviously sat in a bad position during labour and I had bad backache aswell. When it came to DS2's turn, I was quite prepared to have another one if I needed to. Fortunatel, DS2 popped out in 2 hours and I only had time for the TENS machine - maybe it will be like that for you Olivoil!

Ooooh I hope so. Getting scared already and I am only 24 weeks .

Thanks for all these opinions AND it didn't turn into a slagging match between for and against!

I will look into some classses but don't really like the idea of rolling around a room on a ball, not me somehow we will see. Going to speak to my m/w in more detail and find out more about facilities as well.

Sophable - I don't know the answer to your question. Women who have normal, low risk pregnancies 37-42 weeks do not need continuous monitoring. It might have been becuase her waters had broken 24 hours before but that policy has changed in our unit. As long as the woman does not have a temperature and the water is clear, she does not need monitored if she goes into labour on her own.

Oliveoil - birthing balls are brilliant for backache when you sit on them. They are also great antenatally for encouraging the baby to lie in the correct position.

You should get one and try it out . You can get them in Argos - gymnastic ball.

I used one of those balls during a v brief period when had a personal trainer once a week. Nice and bouncy to sit on.

oliveoil -- the ball doesn't roll away with you, it just sort of moves slightly with your movements. It sounds really weird, and looks quite odd too, but is surprisingly comfortable. It lets you move your pelvis with the contractions without actually having to support your own weight. Particularly if you are wired up to monitors and can't walk about freely it keeps you much more mobile than you would be sitting on the bed.

Sophable : " when i asked if it was strictly necessary they insisted it was. " - YET she can decline..... they can not force it on her,... of course most women feel that if MW says they need to do this, they will comply - but believe me hospital policies and protocols are for the masses - each case is different and as Mears says hospitals have different policies and protocols.... which means that there is INDEED another way of doing this !

sorry if I'm repeating anything oo as not time to read whole thread.

I had a epidural with DS. Had 'back to back' labour (can't remember proper name!) and it went on for 4 days (yes really .Epidural didn't work properly so that across one part of my back it was agony. ENded up worse of both worlds, couldn't really feel to push properly but still had the pain. Personally I would try to avoid it next time.

Epidural is fantastic if it works (did for dd) and shit (excuse language) if it does not work (did not for ds). Good luck deciding.

i know pupuce: but it wasn't me, it was my sister and I didn't think having a fight about it was going to help her stress levels which were quite high at the time. nor did i think it would be helpful for me to explain her rights: tbh, she was in another place iykwim.

just to add more relevantly to this thread: i laboured for a long time at home (37 hours) and when it got too much 5 hours after ARM and v v strong contractions, but still not completely dialating, we decided to go to hosp. they were fantastic, gave me v light epidural straightaway, i was completely mobile and could feel everything to push, which took a total of 12 minutes! i was in hospital for a total of 4 hours and walked back to the car. so epidurals can be brilliant imo. but i think if i'd had one a lot earlier, it might have been a different story...

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I had an epidural with ds1, it was a long labour and I have to say it was wonderful as after I had it there was no pain at all, with ds2 I had no real plan just to see how I felt at the time. As it turned out there was no-one to ask for an epidural as I didn't really have a midwife (long story!), by the time they arrived it was too late so I just had gas and air. The birth of ds2 was more traumatic for a variety of reasons, and had I had the option at the time I would have gone for an epidural, but I suppose in a strange way I am glad I have experienced it both ways. If we go for no.3 we are thinking about a home birth, don't know what that says?? Hope all goes well whatever you decide!

I LOVED my epidural with dd1. Wasn't allowed one with dd2, though

Had epidural with both, and it was brilliant!!!! couldn't have done it without.

Was able to push them out without intervention too, and could actually feel dd coming out so don't feel that I missed out on anything, except the pain of contractions - In fact for the last hour of labour I slept!!!! When I woke up the midwife checked me and I was 12 cm

Ok - make that 10cm !!! whoops - I'm a little hormonal 4.5 weeks pregnant!!!!

I was like Bron - epidural that only worked on one side (actually, didn't work at all the first time, and had to be re-inserted). The labour did stop and start afterwards - which may or may not have been the result of the epi, but certainly was one reason I was made (sorry, under the circumstances I really didn't feel I was in any position to say no) to have syntocinin.

I did come out of that labour saying no way would I ever have another baby without an epidural. In the event I did decide to try and go without one; but I'll freely admit that if I'd been in hospital not at home I'd have been bellowing for one (probably at the transition stage, in retrospect).

I had an epidural with dd1. It was fantastic for the pain relief, and I actually managed to sleep during the contractions. However I disliked having to lie there and have continous monitoring. I wanted to move around but couldn't. when the mw were telling me to push when I saw the contractions on the graph monitor - I couldn't feel the muscles in which to push. However, towards the end, the epidural did wear off so feeling the pain was a bit of a shock after previously feeling nothing. I ended up having a ventouse and a very long second stage (4hrs).

With my second birth I used gas and air which is definately more painful - but I liked the fact I could move around during labour and get into positions which felt comfortable for me. I still ended up having a long second stage (2hrs) but I really didn't want to have an assisted delivery and was told that having an epidural increased the chances.

Oh Bloss, what a horrible story. I feel very sad for you. I know I go on about cs and loved mine, but am honestly v pro choice about birth and think it is v sad if anyone feels like crying about their birth whatever their experience. What a vry brave person you are.

I had an epidural 31 hours into what had previously been a drug-free labour. For me it was a godsend, because I had been stuck in the 2nd stage for 10 hours, and needed to rest. The epidural actually allowed me to go to sleep, and when I woke, labour had thankfully progressed. It was also brilliant in that it started wearing off when I reached the pushing stage, so I could feel when and how to push.

I had an epi for my first labour, in 1975, in a hospital where they were mainly given for medical reasons, not pain relief. I had an OP baby that wasn't shifting and the epi was part of a 'package' with a drip to speed things up. Although pain relief was total and first stage was speeded up the second stage was a 'mare. The epi wore off which supposedly meant I could feel to push but in fact I had no pushing sensation, only intense pain and agony for 1.75hrs. I was also very out of it, confused and disorientated. I don't recall it but dh said they brought out the 'salad servers' to deliver ds and I managed to manufacture enough of a push to get him out!

I didn't have an epi for any other of my labours but if I had, I'd have wanted to make sure it continued right until the end of second stage. To go from no pain to an OP second stage was a nightmare, worse than the building up pain of my other labours, even another OP one.

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