Diamorphine strong enough to combat the pain of Syntocinon?

[Mummybear888]

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all well :).
Will be having my waters broken at the hospital tomorrow for an induction and have been told that they will give me Syntocinon to kick start contractions if they don’t start on their own.

I hear Syntocinon can bring on intense and painful contractions. Will diamorphine be strong enough to help with the pain? Or shall I just go with an epidural?

Thanks in adnavce!

Personally I’d go straight for the epidural. I wish I had. I went through gas and air and then pethidine etc etc but the epidural was the only thing that worked and I wish I’d had it sooner. Good luck, hope it goes well.

After I’d given in and had the epidural the midwife then told me that everyone on the drip needs an epidural. Although my Dsis managed without but she is brave😱

How exciting! I was induced with first baby at 37 weeks by syntocin. In hindsight, I should have had gas and air until established labour (4cm) then an epidural, then a nap until second stage. What actually happened was I didn’t ask for an epidural until around 8cm, they couldn’t site it properly, then it was too late for a second as I was 10cm and told to push. I was so exhausted by that point that the second stage took forever, although the entire labour was under 12 hours.

A rarely discussed benefit of epidurals is that they allow you to conserve energy for the pushing stage, which is very physical. Inductions are more painful and physical than a natural labour so it matters even more.

Good luck! 💐

I had diamorph with my first, i really didnt like it at all, made me feel weepy and totally out of control, personally id try gas and air, water and if you feel you need more for an epidural. Good luck! xx

I had diamorphine whilst on syntocinon, and yes it most definitely did cover the pain! However I was high as a kite and said some very amusing things according to DH!

I went for the epidural straight away and very glad I had.

I had diamorphine during my first induction. It probably did take the edge off but it made me feel really spaced and I didn't like it.

I had quite a fast, intense labour once things got going so was just about ok with morphine and then gas and air.

If it had been longer then I'd definitely have wanted an epidural.

I "managed" without. They said to see how I get on, but by the time I was begging for an epidural, there was no-one around to give me one. Baby ended up being born not long after the intense contractions anyway. It wasn't awful the whole way through and I managed on gas and air for several hours. Hope it all goes to plan x

I had the drip both times and didn't need pain relief so see how you go. Obviously it's good to be prepared though in case you do need it.

I'm not sure how useful planning is. I mean who knows?

I was in a lot of pain but found it psychologically manageable. Did end up with an epidural and CS in the end but I wasn't progressing.

I had it during my induced labour. It was great. I was high as a kite and apparently have so very strong, previously unmentioned views on Mariah Carey. I was offered an epidural but didn't feel I needed one. It as my only labour so far so I have no idea if it was more painful than a 'normal' labour

My experience is pretty much the same as Sailor2009's. Except the Mariah Carey bit. I was sound asleep between contractions instead and incoherent otherwise.

I found gas and air on its own was fine for early labour. Once active labour hit, I needed something stronger and had a choice between epidural and diamorphine. I chose the diamorphine. More because I really didn't want an epidural than anything.

I will say that it didn't completely cover the pain of the contractions, so used gas and air to cover the peak of contractions (was on a pretty high dose of syntocin by that point). When I hadn't forgotten which hand was holding the mouthpiece anyway. Apparently I was quite upset when sucking the fingers of the wrong hand did not have the desired effect.

12/10 would do again.

*Also my first (and so far only) labour. So no clue what the norm is is like.

Get an epidural. I had one with both my DC. It was brilliant! Also it helped with getting stitched up after.

I had a Synto drip and asked for a epidural when the strong contractions kicked in very shortly afterwards but was told it was too early and I would cope for a bit longer.

Two hours later when I started pushing it was too late and I had a mid-cavity forceps delivery with no pain relief.

It's not an experience I wanted to repeat.

I had an early epidural with my second baby and it was lovely experience.

In relation to anything childbirth related, I wish someone had said no thanks to you NCT that there are no points for pain. It doesn’t benefit you or your baby. We wouldn’t think that we did “so well” because we actively chose to have our tooth extracted without proper pain relief or had an appendix out on a local. We’d think people were mental.
For some bizarre reason I never questioned the NCT mantra that the more natural the better. As far as pain relief goes, the less pain the better!

They won't give you it past a certain stage cause it causes baby to be sleepy. I had it in early labour as my baby was back to back and I was only 1cm but vomiting with pain. It really works it took all the pain away and I was able to sleep! They didn't let me have it when I went on the drip to start contractions as they didnt want to make her sleepy. The contractions were bad enough though that they offered me an epidural earlier than what they normally would as they could see I had a low pain tolerance.

I had waters broken and Syntocinon for both of mine so I didn't know any different ! The labours were certainly strong and intense but I was fine with just gas and air , nothing else. Both only lasted for 4 hours so it was all over nice and fast ! If you have a low pain threshold I'd go for the epidural. I wouldn't go for diamorphine, the labour will most likely be short and any narcotics you had, would affect the baby after birth .

I was induced and had a back labour and it was fine on gas and air. I would see how you go. If gas and air doesn't work for you then you could opt for an epidural. Personally I wouldn't touch diamorphine.

I had the hormone drip plus morphine and it certainly was enough to take the edge of for me. I guess everyone’s experience is different - I wouldn’t say my contractions where hugely painful but it they were very intense and quite exhausting. I definitely wouldn’t say I have a high pain threshold…can barely cope with getting my legs waxed!

Thank you so much ladies for all of your advice and sharing your experiences. Really helpful! I have quite a low pain threshold, so fingers crossed I can get an epidural. I may try gas and air or diamorphine first and see how they go. Thanks so much again!

I managed on it for a while before I needed the epidural, but if I did it again I'd ask for one sooner.