Are all TENS machines the same-ish?

[sparklyblue81]

There are lots on eBay for £8-10 which is much less than the last time I bought one, admittedly that is 11 years ago!

Are they all suitable for labour? I don’t want to get the wrong kind as I’ve found it so useful with my other labours, but I can’t remember what brand mine was 🙈

i got one for back ache...until i went back to yoga...so dont need it now but was excellent...the ones from Boots were expensive and i had to take back as didnt work so got a refund in the end...
I bought brand: performance health on ebay...cant remember how much but its excellent one.

You need an obstetric one for labour, not just a regular back one. The obstetric ones have the boost button for contractions which regular ones don't have.

Thanks @Willthewashingeverend that makes sense 👍 I thought they seemed a bit cheap 🙈🤣 I’ll see if I can get a pre-owned one & replacement pads 😊

You can hire them - I'll be hiring one in the next few weeks.

I'm selling my one for labour! It was really good, kept me going in those early stages before I got in the pool. Highly recommend one!

In my first labour I had a non labour specific one. I can't say I noticed any difference as I just put the intensity up and down, but it probably is better to have a proper labour one as it's designed for what you're doing :)

Get the boost button ones. I had the wrong type first time round and it was too frustrating when Labour progressed.

I already had a tens machine from the NHS for pain management but I hired one for labour because everyone said they were different.

The only difference was the boost button which I didn’t use at all, I knocked it once by accident and didn’t like it.

Next time I’m not going to bother hiring one and use use the one I have.

I bought mine from boots. I never got to use it! Cause labour progressed quick.

But a lot of trusts hire them out so ask your midwife.

You can hire one as a pp said, I hired mine from

birthease.co.uk/product/elle-tens-hire/

Quick, efficient service and yes it really does help during contractions. Initially, I thought meh, another marketing propaganda to make you buy stuff.... But then, on mumsnet I read reviews of how good it was etc... In particular, a poster who said that, we don't get an award for bravery for doing it raw and to use any pain relief available. Long story short: it did the trick for me. Only downside was that for weeks after birth my back was tender to touch, where I placed the pads. In the end I reckon, Small price to pay for the relief it provided.

You need one with four pads rather than two and the boost is meant to be useful.

I used the Elle Tens in labour, was brilliant. I bought it on ebay for £25 but you can hire them for 4 weeks for the same price.