Epidural

[Rachel12551]

Hi, I'm 34 weeks and just thinking about my birth plan.

Did anyone opt for an epidural and would you do it again? I'm keen to go for one but hearing conflicting views about it.

Thanks!

I had one for DC1 who was a back to back labour after two hours of pushing. I can't remember much about it tbh, only that they struggled to get it in, hit a nerve in my back and ended up with an episiotomy and second degree tear. Did it help? I honestly think I've blanked out the latter part of the whole birth experience so no clue.
DC2 came out after two paracetamol.
A continence nurse once told me to remind them to drain your bladder regularly if you have an epidural.

@countbackfromten ok thats interesting. I may have gotten the amount wrong. I was told in the haze of the first couple of newborn weeks. She definitely did say it was standard procedure to administer fluids before placing an epidural in her hospital. My epidural also left me without feeling from the shoulders down. So it was all a bit of a mess. It went from a lovely experience to emergency within a matter of minutes.
I dont want to put anyone off but I was totally unprepared for the epidural to be a negative experience

Thanks for all your comments!

It's nice to hear some positive experiences and some advice from you all. I have bad anxiety (have had it for over 10 years) so I like to research all options.

I have a midwife appointment at 36 weeks so will discuss it then!

@rachel12551 I can totally relate to having anxiety so I dont want my experience to put you off. If we were to have another I wouldnt rule out another epidural as I know what happened to me is quite rare. I think I found the hardest part was that I just didn't imagine it could possibly happen so mentally it was a bit of a shock.
Congratulations and best of luck

@Rachel12551 this is a brilliant website that I highly recommend which discusses pain relief options in labour and has a great fact sheet about epidurals! www.labourpains.com/home

I had an epidural and it was wonderful. Would 100% recommend it and would have it again. My baby was back to back however and an epidural does not numb the pain of back contractions. I had pain in the epidural site for around two weeks after birth so I needed to keep on top of pain relief throughout the day.

It can lead to intervention, I had an emcs but that was not down to epidural. Three of the girls in my NCT had an epidural and gave birth naturally.

I was induced and did not cope well with the pain at all. The epidural was the best thing I’ve ever done! I only have one word on my birth plan for No 2 - EPIDURAL!