Pain relief?

[user1472216705]

I am 38 weeks pregnant, this is my second pregnancy and i am looking for advice on the best pain relief to opt for as last time around i was only aloud gas and air.

I definately do not want an epidural as i have heard alot of people end up with bad back problems from them and i am also scared of needles so a needle going into my spine terrifies me.

I have been reading up about pethadine and diamorphine but the cons seem to outweigh the pro's from what i have read so far. Can anybody give me their experiences with these and also how it affected the baby as i have read it can cause breathing problems? And also cause the baby to be drowsey for up to 3 days... neither of these are things i obviousley want for my baby.

Also if anybody has any other pain relief suggestions that i havent mentioned i would appreciate hearing about them, i dont want a water birth as i dont like the idea of it at all. I feel i will need more than just gas and air as last time around it didnt help me much and i was in agony with the contractions. Thanks in advance.

Hi op I have just given birth on Tuesday and I had a tens machine until the contractions got bad and then moved to gas and air. Near the end I felt the gas and air wasn't working but I think knowing I was near the end helped me push through it all. I did question some pethidine but I was 8cm and I kept saying to myself see how I feel after so many contractions. I think if it has been multiple hours at this point I would have requested the pain relief but the midwife said it may slow things down and I wanted it over and done with. Good luck.

Thank you for your reply, im glad it wasnt too bad for you. My worry is that last time my contractions were really strong and 2 mins apart lasting 50 seconds and that was from being 1cm dialated so if thats anything to go by then i would want something to help me cope with the pain, i couldnt have anything last time as babys heart rate was dropping. I just dont want to have anything thats going to affect my baby. Thanks again

Ask your hospital if they do sterile water injections. They are excellent if you are experiencing really bad back pain in labour and because it is literally just water there's no risk or side affects to your baby.

Thanks i have never heard of that. I didnt have back pain last time but thats handy to know incase i do this time around. Thank you

I had diamorphine during my first labour and I wouldn't have it again. I spent a few hours drowsy and feeling like I had no awareness of anything, I hated feeling like I had no control over my own body. It also made my ds drowsy and sleepy for the first 24 or so hours after birth.

my contractions were 30 seconds apart I had pethidine I was sick once then fell asleep that's about it

Why was you only allowed G&A?

Go with the flow! I've has a very easy birth with just G&A and one where I would have happily jumped out of the window as it was horrific and I had the lot!

Well diamorphine doesnt sound too great. That sounds like a horrible feeling and i wouldnt like to feel like that at all never mind during labour. Pethadine doesnt sound great either.

I was only aloud gas and air because her heart rate was dropping so the midwives told me i couldnt have any other pain relief.

I found that it helped me control my breathing during contractions but didnt help with the pain. Every labour is differant i suppose so hopefully gas and air will help me more this time around but im just worried that it wont and i will be left in agony like last time because im not sure that any of the pain relief i have read about it right for me and baby.

Thank you all for the comments.

Ask your midwife if you can make a double appointment for your next visit so you can go through all of the pain relief options available to you (the do sometimes vary depending where you have chosen to give birth). She ahould be able to discuss the pros and cons in far more detail and also your worries about them.

Yes i think i will do that, thank you.

Get a copy of Juju Sundin's Birth Skills book ASAP and read it. It's about using physiological pain-managing strategies (like what endurance athletes do); no drugs involved but it was surprisingly effective.
I found it brilliant both times, also used TENS; get a good one second hand via EBay, with a Boost button for use during contractions.
Doesn't 'stop' the pain but you feel in control, and its enough for the duration of the contractions: you can sort of dampen it a bit with the TENS and by using Sundin's strategies like vocalising (i.e. focused noise). Sounds like hippy nonsense but do a search on here, you'll find tons of people praising her methods. Plus there's an excellent empowering last chapter about how to cope if things get tough and you need interventions. Good luck.

I had pethadine as I was induced and it made my uterus over stimulated- but the pethadine made me totally out of it at one point they were taking blood and I didnt even notice.
I also progressed from 5 to 10 cm in about an hour which meant that they administered a new dose of pethadine not long before baby was born which unfortunately did make him sleepy for a while after- which I believe had a lot to do with him developing jaundice as it was hard to keep him awake for feeds.
^ i think there is a cut off point at which they are meant to administer to lessen the effect on bubs once they're born but there is no way they could have predicted I would progress so fast.

I probably wouldn't go for it again but it wasnt awful- I think at the end of the day every labour and birth is different and they wouldnt administer something they seeto be dangerous but they also cant predict how things will go for each labour! xx