Did you get G&A during labour in antenatal ward?

[seeingdots]

Hi all
I'm now overdue with my second and trying to prepare myself for the possibility of ending up being induced again if this one doesn't come spontaneously. DC1 was back to back and induced at 40+13 and at the moment this one is B2B too (not for want of me trying to turn him) and less engaged than 2 weeks ago so it's not looking imminent.

I'm scared of being induced again because of my experience with my first. Labour kicked off quickly with just the pessary and was fairly quick at 4.5 hours but I (not that uncommonly, I know) got pretty much ignored throughout my labour, which went from 0-60 immediately. I wasn't allowed access to gas and air as the midwife told me they could only give me that in the labour ward but there wasn't room for me there. Only when I was pushing did the midwife start to take me seriously and do an examination to find that, surprise surprise, I was at 10 cm and there was a sudden rush to get me to the labour ward. Miraculously gas and air appeared at that point and I got it as they were wheeling me in the bed to the labour ward.

So I was left wondering afterwards whether they really weren't able to give me pain relief any earlier or whether my midwife had just assumed I wasn't as far along as I was and therefore didn't 'deserve' pain relief yet.

Can I ask what your experiences were of access to pain relief during induction? I'd like to know what is reasonable to expect (and get DH to advocate for) if I find myself in the same position again.

What is G&A actually supposed to do? Was totally ineffective for me, but then I think I was in transition by then

Similar-ish story to you OP, was in slow labour at home for two days and then ended up on induction ward after reduced movements, the pessary really got things going but they wouldn’t examine me because six hours hasn’t passed since initial examination. I was trying to explain I’d been going for two days already so surely things were moving quickly but they wouldn’t do it, just told me to go for a walk. I was told no G&A until I was moved into the delivery room, even though it was fixed to the wall behind every bed in the induction ward

Fuck.

Thanks everyone for the responses. Sorry to hear that many of you have had very similar experiences. It's beyond me that it seems to fairly accepted practice to deny pain relief to women in established labour. I've been initially planning a potential home birth so currently have several cannisters of entonox in my garage - how it's possible to have it at home but not on antenatal ward makes no sense. It's clearly not particularly unusual for women to go through most of their labour there.

Frankly I'm kind of shitting it at the idea of another back to back labour with no pain relief. The idea of a planned c-section (though really not ideal with a toddler) does seem preferable. I'm guessing you'd need to fight pretty hard to get them to agree to that though? I don't want to let the pregnancy go on much further than 42 weeks as baby is apparently quite a chunk already so I'm not sure that I'd have it in me to refuse induction as a bargaining chip.

@incogneto - sorry to have worried you. Hopefully yours is one of those hospitals that just give you it when you need it! It sounds like demanding examinations to make sure they're clear on how far along you are is a good way to go as well.

Oh God yes, I kept being offered a bath too. I didn’t want a bath just some fucking pain relief!!

@seeingdots I had to demand examinations which seems unfair. We should have a right to have knowledge about what our bodies are undergoing.

@Iwannasnack I wish they'd have at least offered me a bath, instead of repeatedly insisting on an epidural

My experience was exactly the same induction b2b back with rapid labour (nothing to 10 cm in 3 hours) I was refused pain relief as apparently I ‘wasnt in labour’ and the midwife felt I was doing well with my breathing (despite telling her I was in so much pain I thought I was going to die)

If I have another child I’m either going to refuse induction or insist on a epidural before they touch me!

I got it on antenatal ward. They examined me and told me I was 3cm and not established labour but the woman went off to get g and a after I begged. I had exactly 3 puffs before my DD was born - on antenatal ward- 18 minutes after that examination that put me at 3cm.

Some hospitals seem to have got really funny about G&A over the last few years...I’ve had four at the same hospital and last one they wouldn’t believe I was in labour, kept on about sending me home and wouldn’t allow me g&a and wouldn’t examine me to see how dilated I was, eventually they reluctantly gave it to me around 40mins before she was born.

Felt pretty traumatised afterwards and perplexed on why it was withheld...g+a only stays in your system for a few minutes so even if they had sent me home it’s not like giving me g+a would’ve made any difference.

Part of me wonders if it has something to do with the fact they’ve realised g+a exposure effects midwives health...

I wasn't induced but was admitted to antenatal ward while in early labour. When contractions were closer and stronger (but before going to labour ward), I was allowed gas and air. I also got a massage in a room with soft music and lighting and two baths - definitely got the labour established!

Same here, I did most of my labour on the induction ward in the 3 hours between them inducing me and a room being free on delivery ward. I was in transition by the time they took me down, and they were still cleaning the room after the last occupant. In those 3 hours I had maybe one brief visit from a midwife, no examinations at all, 2 paracetamol and a thin curtain for privacy. I actually felt really sorry for the other ladies on the ward who were waiting for theirs to kick in! And I was a high risk pregnancy, they were meant to notify consultants the second I came in, I shudder to think what would have happened if something had actually gone wrong.

If you want to have a CS, give you MW a call. If they can't or won't help, ask to see the consultant midwife. Explain your fears, and what happened last time, and see what they say.

I managed to get gas and air on the antenatal ward. I was waiting for a space on delivery suite to have my waters broken but it was clear I'd be waiting all night. I was first offered paracetamol which unsurprisingly didn't have any affect whatsoever, and then oramorph which made me feel awful. Then at 3am i was offered G&A and it was in a cannister on wheels. Glorious! Spent the rest of the night tripping balls whilst my husband sat there in horror watching!

I had Gas and Air in the waiting room when I arrived in spontaneous labour. I was a bit screamy so they mainly wanted to shut me up.

I didn’t have B2B, but was induced like you, and ignored like you. Despite my husband going out to tell them I was in a lot of pain and thought I needed checking, no one checked until 9 - 12 hours after I had been induced. I also didn’t have access to G&A until being wheeled to labour, and they had palmed me off with morphine (which I took, despite it being the only form of pain relief that I had said I did not want, because I was in so much pain I would have taken anything!).

For this reason, along with a number of others, I am leaning towards seeking a ELCS. But I anticipate a fight!

Hope you get what you want second time around!