No pain relief??

[K1999]

So I'm adamant at this stage that I do not want any pain relief. Gas and air at the absolute most. Any comments on this? 'You're absolutely crazy', 'don't be a hero' comments are all welcome, I just want to know how realistic this is as this is my first baby and have no idea what to expect other than excruciating pain..

I agree with most pp who say wait and see, keep an open mind.

I had three with two paracetamol each, including dc2 who presented back to back face down. Like ow! Ouch!

Good luck on having your baby and have lots of fun! Babies are brilliant.

Congratulations. Firstly, don’t “expect excruciating pain”, it isn’t inevitable.

If you aren’t keen on the idea of drugs, hire a tens machine and practice using it - I found it really helped but every birth is different. Accept gas & air, but don’t discount other options. Be guided by your midwife, that’s what she’s there for.

Birth plan for first was water birth and no epidural. Went out the window when went into labour prematurely. Ended up with a couple if puffs of gas & air but it made me feel so sick I didn't bother. Second time around I would have been happy to have anything - I didn't get any medals first time for no pain relief however all happened so quickly that there was no time for pain relief- even gas & air.

Go into labour with a flexible attitude, it's also the only way to survive parenthood!

There are benefits and detriments to any approach. If everything is straightforward it doesn’t matter but if things go wrong it can be beneficial to have an epidural in good time. On the other hand, if you don’t have any complications during labour you’ve unnecessarily

I didn't have pain relief on my first, not planned just had a fast labour. I would go with an open mind and see how you feel. You don't know how you will cope with the pain and don't want to end up feeling out out of you decide for have pain relief/ it all doesn't go according to plan.

Op, in the nicest possible way, keep an open mind.
If things don't go your way, and with a history of depression, you could be setting yourself up for one hell of a disappointment, possible traumatic experience.
Hopefully it all goes to plan for you. I hope it does, but it could have an effect on you psychologically if you are too rigid in your planning.
It's not a paint by numbers game or a jigsaw, sometimes curve balls are thrown which can be out of control. It would be in your best interest to be open minded

I've had two with nothing including gas and air.
First birth (in Germany)... It was quite quick (and by quick I mean I went from not fully dilated to a baby in my arms when the midwife popped out the room for five minutes).
Second time round, home birth (partly due to the risk of me suddenly giving birth again, thought it was safer at home than at the side of a country lane!). Gas and air an option, but wasn't needed until stitches afterwards, and I didn't like it when I tried.

It has made no difference to our lives. If you need pain relief, have it. I had a bad dislocation (knee) between the two babies, and I needed every bit of pain relief offered then- and no one would think it commendable if I had refused it.

You may not want pain relief, but you may need pain relief. I had a 48hr back to back labour where even an epidural didn't fully take away the unbelievable pain. It was indescribable. So yes you might be fine, or you might not be. Bottom line is, be open minded. Being bloody minded about it is not going to do you any favours on the day.

I think you should go into labour with an open mind.

Ask yourself though, why no pain relief when it's available and labour hurts? Do people who have no pain relief love their babies more, have cleverer babies, get a prize afterwards? The answer to all of these is no.

Do what you feel comfortable with and don't be pressured into having a birth someone else has decided is ideal. Good luck.

Decide on the day. I couldn’t have epidural due to the medication I kept being sick with each contraction so no good for gas and air so I had tens machine. It wasn’t very useful and I hated it with my eldest, with my 2nd I just stayed in the bath until last min which was really good so water birth might be an option. I used tens again with my youngest and got on with it much better that time around.

Also, one dose of an effective painkiller to aid labour will not cause addiction. You need to do more research

@frenchfancy81 I have answered why, look up :)

@currentlychilled when did I say that it would? I have done plenty of research but I came on here to ask mums personally.

I didn't think I would have any pain relief. Oh how we laugh about it now. Had an epidural before I was even induced because I had heard so many horror stories whilst I was waiting!

You're putting too much emphasis on something you can't control. So if you end up with pain relief then you'll feel like a failure and if you don't need it then you feel like a success. It's unnecessary, and I don't think your reasons really change that.

Unless you can plan out exactly what will happen I don't think you're doing yourself any favours making grand statements. Giving birth is so massively different for everyone.

Apologies OP, I didn't read your second message properly. You were saying that if you rely on meds for anything it can take its toll on your liver. Sorry that's different from addiction.
But my point still applies to some extent. A dose of an effective once off painkiller to aid labour won't take its toll on your body and damage your liver. Repeated use, yes. Once off, no

You might surprise yourself. I had diamorphine with first baby, but with my second nothing. Boy it hurt! But I just kept going knowing it would end. My midwife was brilliant, she poured water over as the head was coming out, I would definitely ask for that to be done, made a huge difference, no stinging at all. Maybe a water birth?? Keep an open mind and see how you go.

I had gas and air with the first, c section (breech) with second and this time I'll be asking for the epidural. Pain relief is there for a reason, if you can do without great but you will only know once you get there

My second was born with no pain relief. I'm emetophobic and would rather have been in pain than throw up. It did hurt like buggery, but I agree with all those cliches saying its a productive pain. I was mildly interested in the physiological processes when they weren't masked by drugs.

@currentlychilled yeah for sure. I don't think it would have a massive impact of my liver but that's just why I stopped taking pain killers in general (I used to use them for ANY slight pain). It's more for me giving my son the best chance and if that has any type of impact on his body or immune system I would feel guilt for sure. I completely understand where everyone is coming from, especially as I've never done this before and everyone else commenting has! I also won't beat myself up if I do need it, I literally just wanted to hear peoples stories and opinions. Everyone has been super helpful. I'm gonna try breathing through it and staying in prayer, but I'm certainly not ruling anything out.

Fleamaker, I had no idea diamorphine was given as pain relief during labour. It used to be pethidine at the most. Blimey! Might be worth going through labour just for that experience :-).

My second was born without pain relief. I think it was painful at the time but I don't remember it as a painful experience.
My first was horrific but I had complications and the pain was from those.
Give it a shot without but don't feel bad if you can't.

I was exactly like you - wanted a birth without any pain relief if I could. Was open to it if I had to but wanted to do I without because I was a bit scared of the interventions and, like you, I didn't bother with paracetamols or anything anyway.

Wanted to post a reply to you to say YES, it happened that way and luckily I got the birth I really wanted. I went on to have a further 2 more births the same too. I feel like I'm hard as nails it made a massive impact on my sense of inner power and strength. I really hope you get the birth you want too.

Highly recommend doing any sort of calming practice beforehand to rely on during the birth. Just lots of lovely breathing is good. And relaxing your shoulders and hands. When contractions get strong, think about those parts of your body and release the tension. With every contraction, just peacefully think: another one closer to baby arriving. And I think the perineum stretching I did helped at crowning too.

Good luck, you're going to be great. XXX

Having done just had and air the first time, I say take the epidural- it was amazing.

I personally thought I had a high pain threshold and I'm not a crier and birth is natural, but no it bloody hurt and I felt that it hurt so much it stopped me pushing and I needed cutting and ventouse ( assistance giving birth) my insides were wrecked by this. Second time obviously a bit easier but just epidural no cut and it was great.

I kept an open mind, and just had a hard no for pethadine, I used hypnobirthing for breathing techniques. I tried gas and air for a very short amount of time, but it changed the breathing that was keeping me calm and focussed. My Labour was quick and I think had it not been I would have considered an epidural, it was just over five hours from start to finish. Keeping calm helped me though. Don’t tell people your choices, keep it to yourself and see how you go on the day 😊