Pethidine and breastfeeding

[wombatsears]

I'd like to be open to pethidine during labour but am worried as I've read it can make it difficult to establish breastfeeding after the birth as it can make the baby sleepy and reluctant to feed. Does anyone have any experience of this?

I had pethidine with both my DC. First struggled to bf but had had a traumatic birth. Second latched no problems but had a much easier entry to the world.

I had two shots of pethadine and ds was born about 11 hours after the 2nd one. He latched fine and fed like he'd been doing it for years. He did sleep a lot the first 24 hours but apparently all newborns do that.

Two close friends had pethidine during labour after each being told they were a very long Tim from delivery. One gave birth within an hour and the other within 3hrs, both babies struggled to feed, both ended up in special care. It also did nothing to help one friend.
It can be an effective drug for some women but don’t be fobbed off with it if you think you’re further along than they do..

I had pethidine twice, second dose about 2.5 hours before DD was born. She was a bit sleepy but no probs establishing BF. In fact she was feeding within about half hour of being born. I did have to wake her a couple of times to feed, but the actual feeding was fine.

I found pethidine worked great for me, but I have also heard of people reacting badly to it. Its one of those things that I wanted to avoid, but was so grateful for when i had it!

It only really works for earlier labour pains, I found it did sweet FA during actual established labour.

I had pethidine with dd1 and they only gave me it about 25 min before she was born so I was totally out of it when she came and I felt a bit like we did struggle but I was knackered already so I don't think that helped! Basically they offered to give her some formula about 4am (she was born at midnight) because I was begging for sleep so she had that and that was the only formula she had until 9 months. With dd2 I had it again and it wasn't given as close and was fine plus I was more prepared for the tiredness that time and it was all fine. I would say just go with the flow when it comes to pain relief like I couldn't use the gas and air first time it just made me sick but second time it was a god send!!

I didn’t have pethidine but did have diamorphine which didn’t affect breastfeeding at all, he came out desperate for a feed and we had our golden hour. I then went off to theatre to get sorted out and came back an hour later and he was desperate for more. First night he didn’t feed much so I expressed into a syringe once but the next day he fed perfectly again. Fed pretty much hourly until 17 months old when I was DONE 😂

I had pethidine and went on to BF. Good luck op

My DD was born at 8pm and was very chilled. She slept well the first night, probably due to the pethidine and being exhausted. Night no. 2 was a non-stop cycle of crying (both of us), breastfeeding and no sleep - I assume the pethidine was out of her system by then.
Long term, I breastfed until she was 9 months old.

I had it while I was waiting for my epidural. They aim to avoid giving it to you within 4 hours of delivery for exactly that reason and obviously it’s not always possible to estimate accurately but in most cases it’s fine. It was fine for us. Did absolutely nothing for the pain but chilled me out and made the time pass quicker until I got the epidural. Gave birth about 12 hours later and my little one has been a great feeder since birth.

Ill be honest. I had pethadine during labour with DS and we had difficulty establishing BF. It was 4 days before I was discharged from hospital once they were confident he was feeding well enough.
After the initial hiccup, he fed like a trooper for 10 months!

Pethidine has its place. It's good for latent phase to try and get some rest. It gets a bad rep but I've seen it work really well.

With regards to breastfeeding - I'd recommend getting used to hand expressing, which you can begin antenatally so that you have this as a back up in case you can't latch baby straight away0

I had never heard of pethadine or diamorphine until after reading it in my post labour notes. It was never discussed as an option for pain relief, I think I was quite naive going into it.

When the time came and the midwife asked if I’d thought about pain relief (it must have been obvious I was suffering 🙈), I told her I didn’t want an epidural and she offered me additional pain relief.

It was injection which I thought was in my butt my apparently it was my thigh. It absolutely knocked me for six. My dp videod it and it’s quite shocking 🙈

As soon as it was time to push, it was like I snapped out of it and knew what I had to do. I remember feeling sick, I couldn’t pee, I had to have 2 catheters but as crazy as this sounds, I absolutely loved my labour!

I remember the pushing feeling (my dp and mum often remind me of when I screamed “it burns, it burns”). It was enough to take the edge of but enough that I remember every feeling etc...

Lo bf like a dream, i did on one occasion ask the midwife for help as didn’t know how to hold her properly when feeding but I think that would have been the same regardless.

I only had gas and air second time round and lo really struggled to bf.

I don’t know if that helps at all but hopefully a little insigh into it. Whatever you choose, I hope it’s a lovely (and not too painful) experience.