Scared now lol

[Shankairen]

Okay sooo...

My first born so literally finding out new stuff everyday. Found out I can't have the epidural until 5cm dilated. Now when I say I'm bad with pain...I mean BAD. Like,I scream and cry at period pains. My Body just can't do aches and it shuts my Body down and makes me feel like I'm going to pass out. So now I'm scared about the first half with no epidural. Scared of the pain without. I have emetaphobia so scared of being sick so physically won't be able to take gas & air without having a panic attack. So basically I'm scared of no pain relief and scared of all pain relief because I'm scared of the stories of moving and becoming paralysed with the epidural (dunno if I even believe this lol).

All in all I'm finding it hilarious😂😂 this morning I wasn't scared for Labour one bit,couldn't care less about it. Been told about having to wait until 5cm and possibly paralysed with a 10cm needle and now I'm just like I am NEVER doing this again. Still excited tho. Actually laughing at myself 😂 when I say I'm scared of the pain relief/no pain relief I mean like anxiety attacks etc.

You don't necessarily have to wait till 5cm for an epidural. If you're in active labour, most places will give you one once labour is confirmed. If you're having an induction, it's usually available before you have your waters broken or before you start the drip, if you ask. The chances of being paralysed from a labour epidural are very very small, about 1:250000. If you want more reliable information, rather than what your mates tell you, have a look at the information sheets on pain relief/epidurals on labourpains.com - it's written by the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association but in patient-friendly language.

You don't say how far along you are, but some hypnobirthing/mindfulness practice might be really helpful in allowing you to relax and deal with the uncertainty of labour. This can be done alongside any interventions or pain relief you may have and can be very useful.

You will hear lots of horror stories but every labour is different. It's going to be painful for a finite period of time and then you get to hold your baby. For me it helped to remember that a contraction lasts less than a minute so even when it was at its most painful I always knew I could survive the next 40 seconds.

Hi, I am an anaesthetist who does a lot of obstetric work. You don’t have to wait until you are 5cm for an epidural, that isn’t true.

As a previous poster said - we explain the risks of an epidural but they are very uncommon. I highly recommend you have a look at www.labourpains.com/home which is a website with really brilliant information about different pain relief options and there is an epidural information leaflet which explains the risks. An anaesthetist will explain them to you again before putting one in but really good to have read this stuff in advance. We are really very good at what we do promise!! Good luck!!

As mentioned, I really recommend you looking into a hypnobirthing course!

The first part isn't painful especially, only when almost fully dilated. I walked around for hours to get the pains going stronger, and honestly, my feet hurt more than the contraction's.

Every labour is different and your body may well just take over for you.
I'm an absolute idiot where needles are concerned so didn't want those. When it came to it though, I ended up with a cannula in my hand for fluids as I was dehydrated and in the moment of focusing on labour, I didn't really care, despite the thought of it normally making me feel sick and panicked. It fell out when I was pushing and has scarred my hand though!

I loved labour and found it wasn't particularly painful in a way to make you scream and shout, it was more uncomfortable and unpleasant but I found breathing through and staying calm and focused got me there. I didn't have any pain relief in the end, I think it's more the unknown which is scarier because you don't know how it's going to go or how you'll react. Definitely try and read up on breathing, I got to at least 5cm at home and it wasn't unmanageable and I didn't even register anything as soon as I saw him. Take what you need and trust in yourself and the people around you.

Good luck for your labour

I had my baby 6 days ago and I managed to labour at home until 6cm dilated with no painkillers. It was also back labour which is meant to hurt more. I found that being on my hands and knees really helped and also ice packs on your back! I got an epidural when I went to the hospital and after that I didn’t feel a thing!! I was scared like you before the birth (I’m also a FTM). It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It hurts but it’s not constant. It comes in waves. The pain is there for about 30-60 seconds and then you have zero pain for a while. For me, they felt like period cramps but stronger. Good luck. You can do this.

I dont have any personal experience as im pregnant with my first, but a lot of people have good things to say about Tens machines for early labour/contractions.