Epidural questions

[Heatherbaby]

Hi ladies

A few questions for ladies who have had epidurals:

• did it hurt?
• could you feel when to push?
• could you still feel pain or discomfort?
• did the birth result in any intervention?
• would you recommend it?

I had a drug free water birth with DD last year. It was ok, but giving birth in an area where the water may not be an option and I'm bricking it for a dry land birth. I used to be scared of the needle bit after the birth last year, I had to have a spinal tap anyway to get a 3rd degree tear repaired and the numbness was bliss and the injection I barely remember so I was thinking wtf did I just do a natural labour for when I could have had this?! But i may have been high on birth hormones so would like to hear your experiences.

Thanks in advance x

I was induced

Yes the needle hurt but I was nothing compared to the back labour I was experiencing at the time.

They turned the epidural off/down when it was time for me to push so I could feel it and knew when to push

When the epidural was on I couldn't feel a thing, you could have set my foot on fire and I wouldn't have known.

Yes I needed intervention. I delivered by ventouse and I needed to be cut but this could've been due to being induced.

Yes I would recommend it. I was all for not having one and just seeing how things went but I really was not prepared for back pains.
When I had my second baby I was ready to have another epidural, but I ended up with an emergency section instead

I had gave birth yesterday and had an epidural at 10cm. I was begging for one at about 7cm but the aneathetist was in theatre and by the time they arrived I was 10 cm. The midwife tried to persuade me to continue without one but there is no way I could have pushed without it.

• did it hurt? Not at all but I would say it was uncomfortable. I am the biggest wimp with pain and hate needles and even though it took 3 attempts to finally get it in it didnt hurt. The contractions whilst they were doing it were bloody hard though!
• could you feel when to push? Yes I could feel a strong pressure down below so knew when to push but had no pain
• could you still feel pain or discomfort? Nope
• did the birth result in any intervention? Yes, I ended up with a ventouse delivery and episiotomy as baby got stuck. I dont think this was as a result of the epidural as I was still happy to continie pushing and.apart from position baby was happy
• would you recommend it? Yes. Will be asking for it next time too

Ive had 2...

I could kind of feel them putting it in, but nothing compared to the contractions, so...

The first didn’t work properly it was lopsided, so I had to have a top up - which meant I was completely numb from just under my bust, had to be told when to push and when to stop. No intervention other than that though and I felt literally nothing.

The second worked properly, so it wasn’t sore, but I could feel something that made me go, I think I might need to push now? Only, I didn’t need to DD just came out with the next couple of contractions.

And yes I’d recommend one.

Putting the epidural line in? Not painful. Did it work? No. I had 8 top-ups, the first four worked the 2nd 4 had no effect at all. I went from full labour totally anaesthetised to feeling like I was at the point of death the pain load was so severe. No I couldn't feel to push but I tried anyway. My teeth hurt for 3 weeks after from gritting them hard. No interventions needed. With my 2nd baby, they noted my previous epidural didn't work and said they would massage my back & legs to spread the drug around if needed so that gave me confidence.

If I had another baby I would opt for a more active labour. Lying flat on your back doesn't help.

The local anaesthetic hurt when it was put in. I didn’t feel anything until he said “this might feel strange” and there was a bizarre fizzing feeling in my back that made my back seize up for a second. After that, bliss!

I could still stand up and walk (carefully) to go to the loo etc. Yes could feel to push, wasn’t painful as such, just an intense pressure.

No intervention, I pushed for 40 mins and she was here. I tore slightly as she came out with her hand by her face, but the joy of epidurals are you can’t feel the stitches!

I would absolutely recommend. It meant I enjoyed my labour and birth rather than wanting to die from the pain. Recovery was quick, I would have been out the same day but had group b strep so had to stay in for monitoring for 24 hours post-birth. Absolutely no side effects. Will definitely be having another one!

Did it hurt - no, I was in so much pain anyway I didn't feel a thing
Could I feel to push - yes, they let it taper off a bit when I was pushing
No there was no pain but some odd sensations when baby came out
No interventions, though it was close.
Totally recommend it, I was induced with back to back baby it was the best thing ever, I couldn't have coped without it.

I had an epidural. I always said I never wanted one - I’m a midwife and watching them go in makes me feel quite ill! But after over 24 hours of back to back labour and feeling like I needed to push at 7cm, I felt it was my only option. The anaesthetist who did it was AMAZING. I have nothing but good things to say about her, or the epidural! She did it in about 5 minutes! With me lying on my side. I felt nothing at all, perhaps because I was in agony anyway and quite fond of the gas and air! It started working immediately and I was virtually pain free until DS was born but I still had really good leg mobility and could lift myself, get onto all fours, stand up etc. I almost definitely could have walked out to the toilet but decided to have a catheter so I could get some rest. I didn’t need to use my top up button at all - but then I fully expected to be uncomfortable and quite liked being able to feel the contractions a bit. DS was born by EMCS in the end as I just couldn’t get to fully dilated (entirely due to his position and my anatomy unfortunately) but I have no doubt that I would have been able to feel to push and would have found it quite easy to change positions etc.

I was induced and got to the stage it was so intense that I requested an epidural.
It didn’t hurt going in although it was a bit uncomfortable and strange feeling.
For me it didn’t take away all the pain. I could still feel pain at the top of my bump but nowhere near as bad as before the epidural and it allowed me to get some much needed sleep. I could also feel pressure and a bit of pain when pushing and getting stitched up afterwards.
Mine was a self administering one where I pushed a button every 20minutes.
Didn’t require any intervention although I did have an episiotomy and a couple of tears.
Would 100% recommend getting one!

I had an epidural, it hurt a bit going in but took away contraction pain so totally worth it.
No interventions needed, could feel to push as they 'turned it down' and I could feel the contractions again, just lighter.
Effects wore off quickly, I walked to have a shower. Would 10/10 have one again. Good luck!

I had my waters broken as my labour stalled at 5cm dilated and unfortunately there was meconium in the waters so I was induced to speed things up. As I was having a back to back labour the midwife strongly suggested that I had an epidural to cope with the induction contractions.
It hurt a little bit going in, like the needle was scraping across a bone but they added a bit more local anesthetic and then it was fine. I could feel the tightening of contractions but no pain really. They turned it down when it was time to push. Unfortunately the baby was in a funny position so I ended up having forceps delivery in theater with an episiotomy. If I'd known from the beginning that back to back labour is long, stop starty and painful I would have had an epidural earlier rather than going 36hours with just a tens machine and codeine!

I don't remember feeling the epidural. The pain of labour must have outweighed it!!

Saying that I preferred my second labour with no epidural as I felt more in control and oils walk around, Sit on the birthing ball and lean over the bed whereas with the epidural I was confined to flat on my back.

It's such a personal choice so I would say so as much research as you can before making that decision! Also have a good birth plan and a forceful birth partner who isn't scared to push for the choices you have made!

i didn't feel the epidural at all but to be fair, id only been injected with diamorphine about 15 minutes before!

sorry just realised I never answered the other questions - ended up with emcs so cant comment on pushing.

recovery from epidural was fine tho x

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing

My tried and tested combo was water and gas and air although it didnt prevent the tear. However, following my MW appt today at 37+3 they told me the gas and air is unavailable in the one pool room so I'd have to choose between the 2! Hate it when things start deviating from plan and are outside of your control.

Sounds as though despite a mixedbag of outcomes, most would recommend it!

When is best to ask for one? Wouldn't want it to get too late and regret it!

water or g&a?? thats terrible. really cant see how they cant wheel a gas and air through.

i had both water and gas and air and it was bliss.

overall tho i think if i had to choose id go for gas and air x

Go for gas and air over water. I tried to choose between the two with DC2 and the water did nothing for me this time, which made me panic as it had been so good with DC1. You can't be sure it will be the same yet the gas is chemical, so should be similar every time.

I won't go into the epidural stuff but I 100% wish I'd had gas and air.

did it hurt?
Having it put in. No it didn't hurt.
It did however give me the worst headache I've ever bloody experienced in my life. Had to ask the mw to switch all the light off as it was an absolute killer.

could you feel when to push?
Didn't get to that point. But could feel each contraction. Not with pain but could feel tummy tense up and relax

could you still feel pain or discomfort?
See above RE worst headache ever.
Contractions pain stopped, and I had a little button to top up the epidural if I felt it wearing off and the pain coming back

did the birth result in any intervention?
Yes, crash section for suspected sepsis. So not related to the epidural

would you recommend it?
I'd be open to it again depending on the situation. After 16 hours of labour it definitely allowed me to rest a bit

I had an epidural and only the local injection hurt (I hate needles). DS didn't turn (shoulder up) so
I could feel the pain as I pushed because he wasn't coming out. I ended up having forceps due to wonky baby
I'd definitely recommend one!

I told the anaesthetist I was scared of needles and he first numbed my back with some gel, then did the local, then the epidural. It was uncomfortable for a few moments but didn’t hurt.

I could still move around, but it didn’t hurt at all. I eased off when it came to time to push and I could feel the pressure but it didn’t hurt.

I tore a tiny bit and had to have a few stitches, by which point the epidural had worn off so those hurt.

I LOVED the epidural - would definitely have it if I had another baby!

I bloody love epidurals. I'm not kidding when I say I'd have another one right now even though I'm not in pain because they give you this lovely warm feeling. I had one with each birth.

Birth 1: epidural at 8.5 cm. Should have done it much earlier. Worked perfectly. No pain having it put in but contractions were so bad any pain probably wasn't detectable given the pain I was already in. Accelerated to 10 cm within 20 minutes. Pushed baby out with no interventions. Could feel contractions but no pain whatsoever. Also useful to have had it in for the stitches afterwards.

Birth 2: epidural at 3 cm after 18 hours of not very successful attempts to induce labour with misoprostol and a Foley bulb catheter. I wasn't in a lot of pain but I'd had no sleep and was 18 hours in with possibly many more to go and about to go on pitocin. I got the epidural and the pitocin was started and I was at 10 cm in less than 3 hours. No further interventions, no pain, no problem feeling contractions.

FYI in case anyone brings up epidurals as a cause of other interventions. The research shows (at least here in the US) that epidurals don't cause more interventions. People who have epidurals are already more likely to be in situations of needing other interventions.

Oh and being in the US, gas and air was not an option so it was epidural or fentanyl. I tried fentanyl once in the first birth and it did very little.

The first time around I was scared of tearing badly or needing extra intervention with an epidural. I ended up tearing anyway and having the spinal tap which was glorious but too little too late since I'd done the hard part.

It does sound as though most examples of you guys who had interventions would have had them anyway, regardless of the epidural. Apparently the tear is more likely cos u don't feel how hard you push but then water was supposed to help with that, and it didn't, so I'm much more open minded this time.

I think I'll be judging it by how quick my second labour progresses. If it seems like a long slog especially if I'm having to be induced - seems a no brainer...

Definitely opting for G and A as the first port of call over the birthing pool (apparently they have a problem with filtering the gas out of the room - how is that a thing?!). It was high as a kite on it the first time and its my favourite memory (obviously baby aside!).

I was induced so I was begging for it! Honestly didn't feel the needle go in. Still felt control like I could move my legs/turn over etc and could feel myself pushing. There's s self administer button which you can use to top it up but I didn't.
I had a big baby and she got stuck so it was ventouse and episiotomy.

I had a last minute epidural with twins. I was induced and they'd guaranteed me they would do an epidural, as they often need to manipulate twin 2 info position and it's painful. However the anaesthetist was too busy, so they only managed to put it in as I was ready to push twin 1 out. Thanks for that It didn't work for twin 1 as she came out so soon after, but it definitely eased things off for twin 2. I still felt some discomfort but the pushing itself hurt a lot less (although of course I'd just had another baby and twin 2 was much smaller, so perhaps it wouldn't have hurt much regardless). I was then able to get up and shower/wee almost immediately. I wonder if perhaps it didn't work? We'll never know!

I had an epidural during being induced and it failed at 3cm. Wouldn't go through it again (unless a c section of course) and I managed on gas and air. However, it suits some people and everyone is different