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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

For those who opted for epidural - how "painless" is it really??

196 replies

purpleneon · 16/09/2021 15:33

For those who had a VB + epidural, is it actually anywhere near "painless" (think I need to stop watching birthing videos & being horrified by the screams!) or still v painful, but just less so than gas & air

OP posts:
PissedOffNeighbour22 · 16/09/2021 16:18

I had an epidural in for a couple of days and I vaguely remember it being uncomfortable at first.
Compared to the horrendous pain I was in, the needle was nothing. I have a slipped disc and had been worried about where they would shove it in but the bloke who did it was very gentle and understanding.

However, the spinal block afterwards so they could do an instrumental birth was a different matter. That hurt like hell as they were so rough and didn't give a shit about the slipped disc issue.

I went through a ridiculous amount of the epidural but could still feel most of the pain. The spinal block was better - I felt nothing during the forceps birth with episiotomy.

Plumtree391 · 16/09/2021 16:19

@8dpwoah

No way I could have walked, I couldn't even shuffle myself up the bed without help. This was when I was being particularly button-happy.

I suppose that's the main negative of them isn't it, you are on your back in a a bed which we know from physics isn't the best position. Other than the side effects a few people get of course, I'm not belittling those at all.

Thank you.

I am glad I didn't have one. I spent most of my labour at home, walking around, upstairs and down, doing things; went into hospital after waters broke and gave birth not very long after. It was a good experience but I would have panicked had I been unable to move around.

However, back then, epidurals were a new thing and not always available anyway.

Ozanj · 16/09/2021 16:20

I had a walking epidural. I could move and shuffle around and feel just enough pressure to push

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 16/09/2021 16:22

@CorpusCallosum I've been told I can ask for an early epidural when I want it too, due to traumatic first birth.
I was so relieved when they said that!

StevieNix · 16/09/2021 16:24

I loved my epidural, complete bliss and removal of all pain. I fell asleep as I was just so relieved to not be in pain and woke up refreshed and ready to push.
I could still tell when I was having a contraction but zero pain, so I knew when to push and I also didn’t get any pain from crowning but again I could just feel the sensation of him coming out.
Also you can control your own top up of the medicine, for instance I could still just about move my legs etc in the bed (probably couldn’t of walked though) and I’ve heard some women just have a small dose just to take the edge off the pain.
If I ever have a baby again I 100% want an epidural as early as possible.

FTEngineerM · 16/09/2021 16:28

@Plumtree391 oh it definitely is scary to not move around when in pain and ‘feeling’ it all but when I had the epidural at least it took all that away so I went from pacing the room and swaying with each contraction, screaming like a banshee to happy and content laying down. I would not have been happy lying down without an epidural, so I think the two a intertwined.

Topseyt · 16/09/2021 16:29

I had two epidurals, for DD1 and DD3.

For some reason they both took a very long time to work down my left hand side, but were almost instant on my right. The anaesthetists both told me that this happens occasionally but the reasons why were not understood fully at the time.

They did eventually work down the left hand side and then it was bliss. Took a long time though and a lot of anaesthetic, so it also took longer than average to completely wear off.

I'd still recommend them though. I had DD3 by c-section and bar some tugging (which wasn't painful) as they delivered her I felt nothing.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 16/09/2021 16:31

I had one and felt nothing including being cut from ear to ear, ventouse and a 48 hour labour. Thank God.

Load3 · 16/09/2021 16:33

I wish I had! I had pethidine and/or diamorphine and then had to have an epidural after the birth to repair a tear! Should have just had it in the first place!

Good luck with your birth OP and enjoy the best tea and toast you will ever have in your entire life!

Stealhsquirrelnutkin · 16/09/2021 16:40

I went from being in terrible pain to feeling a bit bored and wishing I had a book to read.

Yummymummy2020 · 16/09/2021 16:41

Two epidurals both births painless once the epidural was in!!! Most fantastic thing ever!! Second birth had it really early, was like I never had Labour even😂 I had an hour of cramps and got it. Love them!

Nojobforoldmums · 16/09/2021 16:47

@PaddleBlue

Has anyone had an epidural that has scoliosis, by any chance?
Yes @PaddleBlue . I wasn't warned before, but it made the epidural "patchy" so I still felt pain in some places.
THNG5 · 16/09/2021 16:48

@Plumtree391

I want to ask.....just curious, nobody has to answer me.....does an epidural stop you from walking around? I kept moving through most of my labour and that was extremely beneficial.
I had a walking around one. For the first few hours, I could walk around, was encouraged to empty bladder etc. It was topped up around every 2 hours when I started to feel pain. After a few hours (I say a few but I'm thinking it was at least 12 hours) , I was going to the toilet and my legs just collapsed (luckily, my husband was just behind me!). I'd obviously had so many top ups that it had spread into my legs. Getting up was a nightmare as I couldn't feel my legs! This was 5 years ago though so it might be even better now!
DoubleHelix79 · 16/09/2021 16:52

I've ended up having one with each of my two births. Each time I went from sobbing hystericalöy because I couldn't cope with the pain anymore to completely calm and without pain in the space of about 20 minutes. They are mindblowingly amazing, like a switch has been flipped

MinnieJackson · 16/09/2021 22:36

I've had 4, the worst, most painful part for me was the cannula, I didn't feel the rest

8dpwoah · 16/09/2021 22:46

Yes! Cannulas are bloody horrible. I had one in one hand and one in my wrist the other side (not for the epidural stuff), they caused me far more hassle trying to learn how to look after DD, and look after myself than the epidural, stitches or catheter did 😂. The catheter was pretty useful tbf I was a bit sad when it came out.

I had one a couple of weeks ago and my hand still feels funny. I am a wimp about them now though.

BertieBotts · 17/09/2021 07:34

I must have been really unlucky, mine did absolutely nothing at all - I could still feel everything and move around perfectly fine! It was awful TBH because I was expecting that to be the only thing I needed so I went for it when I'd used up all my other coping tools and so I had nothing left and was just left with this insane pain.

Plumtree391 · 17/09/2021 11:35

How long did it last, Bertie?

ItsSunnyOutside · 17/09/2021 11:50

After 2 days of labour followed by an induction...the epidural was VERY much welcome, at the time. I was very thankful as I managed to get a few hours sleep which my body deperately needed and just a break from the long and painful contractions.

However, I did not have a very good reaction to it, coming out of it, I was shaking badly for a few hours, felt quite out of it, I was on auto pilot, also needed a catheter for 2 days.
Hopefully, if we are fortunate enough to have another dc, I would not choose to have an epidural again , based on how 'out of it' I felt. I am certain some of that was due to exhaustion from only having 4 hours sleep in 3 days.

BertieBotts · 17/09/2021 11:57

How long did what last? Labour or the epidural?

HSHorror · 17/09/2021 12:04

Amazing pain free.
However op you probably need to prepare yourself as
1 dc1 i was in earky b2b labour for hours before they allowed an epidural agony shooting down spine and legs.
2 due to experience with dc1 i put epidural in my birth plan. But had pethidine while waiting - this was during the night. And despite being in labour at hospital over 12 h they never managed to find this the nhs anaesthetist. Wo i gave birth with g&a and ended up very angry with the midwife. There is a policy of leaving you too late to get it

Doomscrolling · 17/09/2021 12:06

I was one of the rare unfortunates for whom it was unsuccessful and I could feel everything.

Toddlerteaplease · 17/09/2021 12:12

@PaddleBlue, I'm not sure about epidurals for child birth, but we use them
For post op
Analgesia after major orthopaedic surgery. Many of the patients have cerebral palsy and have had a scoliosis repair. They can't have an epidural. Because of the metal
Work/ position of the spine.

Plumtree391 · 17/09/2021 12:18

@BertieBotts

How long did what last? Labour or the epidural?
Sorry for not being clear, Bertie. I get the epidural was useless and was wondering for how long you were in terrible pain.

It seems dreadful to me for someone to have no pain relief when they obviously need it.

RobinPenguins · 17/09/2021 12:23

I could feel a bit of pressure but no pain. I snoozed my way from 5-10cm and the pushing stage was fine, just followed midwife’s instructions and baby out in 10 minutes. Wore off quickly afterwards too so I was back on my feet. I know it doesn’t always go that way, but I was a big fan of my epidural!