Opinions on epidurals

[Keyperfect]

I'm 40 weeks pregnant today, and booked for an induction next week if Baby hasn't arrived by then, due to my being over 40 now! I have 4 DCs already, but have never had to be induced (even though two went past 41 weeks), and had gas and air as pain relief with all four. Luckily never needed any interventions.

I've been reading about people's experiences with inductions and it scares me a bit. Lots of people advise having an epidural so I want to find out more about having one. The thought of an epidural scares me too..!

Please let me know your experience of epidurals, good or bad, and also of being induced past 40 weeks.

Thanks!!

Hello
I had 3 perfect deliveries and had to be induced with my last baby. I wish I had the epidural before they started as I did not expect the pain to be a lot worse than natural contractions.
Personally I would have it. Ironically it did not work but hey ho!

Amaze balls

Gosh my labours were long and full of complications. My first one was 28 hours, it took me an eternity to dilate so such a long time in pain and exhausted before finally had the epidural which I wish I had from the start.
The second time I told them the give me the epidural straight away (learnt from the first time around) but it failed and by the time I got it sorted the baby came and delivered himself practically not long after. Thay that that horrendous because of the failed epi (mistake of anesthetist). Some of you ladies have had lovely labours I always wonder if it was because my body wasnt ready and didnt go into labour naturally.

That one was*

Ive had 3 inductions & had epidurals every time.

For the first two I was on drip & third was pressary.
I found the epidural fantastic.

Have the epidural. If they give out medals for not having one then it's not something I'm bothered about missing. I think I made it through 2 agonising hours before begging for one and I consider myself to have a high pain threshold. Every medical professional I spoke to pre induction said to have it at the same time as the drip was started but noooo I wanted to see if I could cope without. They were right, have the epidural out in before everything starts ramping up as it's easier then as you're not in pain.

Mine did wear off as I had to lay on my side for a while but baby was laid the wrong way, and had been throughout my pregnancy and was nothing to do with the epidural.

I had a planned induction for twins and an epidural was always part of the plan (in case twin 2 misbehaved and I needed to go to theatre). I had the pessary but then labour suite was busy so I was postponed (be prepared for that - I was booked for the Sunday, cancelled til mon am, pessary late mon afternoon which started off some contractions but not proper labour then basically put on hold til my waters went wed evening - so if you have to organise childcare etc be prepared you may need it for a bit longer than anticipated!!)
I had my epidural before the drip was started - as I was over 37 weeks with twins I was horribly uncomfortable by then even before labour started. Epidural was sited, I had a cuppa and went to sleep - slept from 2 to 8cm!! I had a button to press to top it up when needed - when I got to 8cm I chose to stop pressing it so by the time I was fully dilated I was feeling contractions - uncomfortably enough to need gas and air but not too painful, and I was able to feel the urge to push and feel what I was doing when pushing as well as being able to move myself around on the bed. Twin 2 needed forceps and I was able to feel what was going on but the pain was tolerable. It was the perfect labour due to that epidural - absolutely no pain for most of it so I was able to rest, but able to feel and therefore control what was going on when I was actually giving birth.

I’m afraid I’m going to go against the grain here. I had an epidural due to my blood pressure going through the roof during induction. The anaesthetist ballsed it up and I had the mother and father of all headaches for days afterwards. Ended up having a caesarean anyway. Had to go back to theatre for a blood patch to sort out the headache. It was a nightmare. Trying to bond with the baby and breastfeeding while a pneumatic drill pounded inside my head was horrific.

I was induced on the drip with DD, I have no ‘natural’ labour to compare it to but the contractions were very painful with my induction, to be brutally honest. I wanted to try without an epidural because I had read about increased interventions (I also just wanted to know what contractions felt like!) so I went as far as I could without, got to 6cm before it became unbearable and I asked for the epidural. Considering it took another 5 hours from that point to deliver I actually can’t imagine how I would have coped with that level of sustained pain. The anaesthetist arrived quickly and the epidural kicked in within about 20 minutes and it was bliss after that, I even had a nap for a while until I was ready to push. DD was delivered in theatre by forceps after pushing unsuccessfully for an hour, they said it’s because her head was at an awkward angle so it’s hard to say whether the same outcome would have happened with or without the epidural.

I've never had an epidural but during labour with DD I really wanted one. I was induced with DD and the pain was much worse than with DS who was nearly 2lb heavier. I went into labour naturally with him. I'm about to have DC 3 and plan on not having an epidural, though if I'm induced again I will no doubt change my mind.

With my first baby I ended up being induced by the drip, I ended up having an epidural and it was by far the worst thing I could have done. When they were doing the epidural the needle went to far into my spinal cord, we were not made aware of this until after the birth. When I sat up to have the epidural done it helped the baby move so I didn't even get the full effect of the epidural because the baby was born very shortly after.

After the birth I couldn't sit up without having excruciating headaches and sickness, I could only lay flat. The hospital kept advising that test and a high intake of caffeine would fix the problem. This went on for days. Finally in the end I had to go back into hospital and into theatre where they sat me up in a freezing cold operation room and took blood from my arm and then injected into my spine to fill the hole the epidural had made.

This was 7 years ago and to this day I have really bad back pains, I've especially suffered through my pregnancies after.

Obviously each to their own and if it's what you want to do then go for it but there are definitely two sides to epidurals. I wouldn't recommend it and wouldn't have one again. Good luck!

I've had 4 babies. 3 inductions and 3 epidurals.

Dc1 - induced at 42wks, I had the pessary and drip and thankfully an epidural! She was back to back and ventoused out. I had an episiotomy and 3rd degree tear. The drip made my contractions relentless early on so the epidural was amazing.

DC2 spontaneous at 41wks, labour was easier until my waters broke and I had an epidural.

DC3 was induced at 42wks, they broke my waters and she shot out in 2hrs. No time for an epidural and the anaethetist was unavailable.

DC4 was induced at 40wks, I was obviously nowhere near as ready as I was with DC3 because nothing happened. Due to previous drip experience I said I wanted an epidural in place before they hooked me up. I waited (understandably) 5hrs for an anaethetist. But when it was in and I was hooked up it took 2hrs to get me contracting 4 x in 10mins, but then I went up to 6 x in 10 so I was very glad I had the epidural! Baby was born 4hrs after my contractions got to 4in10.

If I had another (I won't) I would 100% have another epidural if I could.

I had an epidural with my first - it really worked well to take the pain away - DD1 was born by forceps which in hindsight was probably due to epidural but all healed within a couple of weeks and no lasting side effects. I was 40 when I had DD2 and was induced on my due date - I was all for having another epidural (was begging for one!) but she arrived too quickly so I didn’t get the chance - she was born about 12 hours after I started the induction process when he had gone home for a nap! My advice would not be to rule anything out - see how things pan out.

I’m expecting my second child and will totally have an epidural again. My birth plan will be very brief: epidural. That’s it!

Brit here but live in US. Had my 1st DD here two years ago. I ended up being induced (medically necessary) the induction was fine but contractions painful so I got epidural as pretty standard here. Sooo glad I did because ended up pushing for over 3 hrs and had vacuum - this was because baby was sunny side up not because of the epidural.
Having my 2nd child in the states and so glad I am. Only thing in birth plan is epidural - I have also been told I can elect for induction at 39 wks as recent studies have shown decreased risk for c- section if give birth at 39 weeks even with induction. Not decided yet though.

I hate how disparaging the NHS is about epidurals - many of my friends have been denied them and gone on to have considerably traumatic births without adequate pain relief. NO ONE should be denied an epidural, unless there are medical contraindications. Feel the UK is behind on patient choice and involvement compared to the US.

I’ve had three Induced births with epidurals and wouldn’t consider Birth with out one tbh!

@Watto1 I agree that it depends on the anesthetist. I still have back ache now from the first one pressing and pressing down hard on my spine, I burst into tears and it was a worse experience than the induced labour pains from the drip. I wish I'd screamed for him to stop but I wasnt in my own head at that point and dh wasnt in the room because they had told me I would be going into theatre for my waters broken (which didn't have to happen in the end) The second anesthetist was amazing but unfortunately by the time it got sorted baby was almost here. I'm pleased I'm.not having anymore dc as if I was I would be put off epidurals for life. I do think hey are amazing when they work and if no hiccups beforehand!

My epidural was great. I'd been in labour for about 20 hours and it kept stopping and starting. I was just exhausted. As soon as I had the epidural (which I really had to fight to get) it was wonderful.

I didn't need to be induced in the end as Baby decided to arrive at 40 +3 days, so I was very relieved!

Stuck with my go-to gas and air, and all went fine. Home same day, with our little bundle of joy!!

Thanks a million for all the feedback, it's so interesting to hear the different experiences.

Congratulations!! Wonderful news!

@Keyperfect is the pain bearable with gas and air? FTM here, 32+5 weeks and trying to prepare myself for what pain relief options I have! So far, baby is head down, ready and waiting so hopefully he'll stay that way.

Congratulations on your new baby though, how long was your labour? :) x

Congratulations OP.

I'll just add my experience for anyone else reading this.

I haven't had an epidural but I had a spinal anaesthetic last week for a cervical suture. I was one of the unlucky ones who ended up with a debilitating headache caused by a postdural puncture (allowing spinal fluid to leak). There's apparently a 1 in 100 chance of this happening. I ended up having to go back in to theatre to have an epidural blood patch (they injected my own blood back in to my spine to seal the puncture). I was allowed home the same day and the headache has gone. It wasn't ideal to have the complication, but it was relatively straightforward to fix. It wouldn't necessarily put me off having an epidural in labour, I'd just be more aware of this potential complication and seek medical help immediately if I had a debilitating headache afterwards, rather than just assuming it was unconnected.

@Hodge85 It definitely hurts but it takes the edge off the pain to keep it (just!) bearable - to me, anyway. I've had 5 (big) babies now, all with gas and air so nothing else to compare it to but for me, it's great. Fast recovery too.

Waters went first and contractions started about 2 hours later, took them a while to become strong and regular. Probably about 4 hours of strong contractions and 30 mins of pushing. All worth it! Best of luck, keep an open mind on your options, and it really helped me to remember that each contraction is one step closer to Baby!

Thanks @allthesharks; that's reassuring, as that was the exact kind of scenario that scared me off epidurals. It was the thought of potentially spending the first 6 weeks of baby's life lying in bed with a horrendous headache - and obviously, given what happened to you, that does not necessarily follow, even in worst case.