Gas & Air

[Mum2b2BabyRoo]

Thinking about using G&A for labour but have read many posts where it has made woman sick! So if you used G&A for labour, please let me know if it worked or made you sick! Thanks!

Oh and it makes your mouth dry so you need to keep drinking. Also the next day it gives you a wind a bit - but that might just be me - I had 7 canisters with dd so used as lot!

Ha ha they had to wrestle it off me too, the mouthpiece became detached and was left in my mouth..

i loved it i was sick alot but its great stuff you don't really care that your being sick

it was fab! loved it! i managed both labours with only gas and air, i didnt want drugs and was pleased that the gas and air done the job, but was mortified with some of the things dp said i was saying doing, but hey i dont remember!

gosh yes I think being sick is the least of your worries ..

Didn't use it for long (after 15 mins of it evil mw said it was making me too comfortable to push so it must have worked) but do remember that although it didn't stop the pain at all it stopped me caring so much, if that makes sense. No sickness though so that was good.

Oh gas and air...

Let me tell you the many ways in which I love it...

I was told off for having too much between contractions

I was stoned off my box... still in pain but not bothered about it

Pethadine made me sick though

Only problem was, I was so stoned I only have very hazy memories of dd's birth and the next 15 mins or so.

Using the G & A mask made me feel nauseous, so they gave me a mouthpiece to suck it from instead. As a drug it didn't do much for me, in fact only really used it for the first of my 3 children, but it did help to control my breathing that first time.

absolutely LOVED g&a it was fab seriously i said something to the midwife about how great it was, just like smoking a joint dp was and worried they might call social services, lol.

it was great tho, worked really well, i had the mouthpiece that i could bite down on, that helped too,at one point the mouthpiece came unattached from the pipe supplying the g&a, dp said he had never seen anyone with such fast reactions as i reached to grab the pipe and reconnect it.

Another vote for, great stuff, only thing I have used in 2 labours.

You don't think it's doing anything until you have a contraction without it or you use it afterwards for stitches/exams/or delivery of the placenta, it's fab!

It didn't really stop the pain, just made me laugh while in pain. I went for something stronger...

It's brilliant, makes me talk a load of bollocks though but after 9 months of abstinence from alcohol it's nice to feel very drunk/stoned.

I didn't really get on with it during contractions - made me feel like I was suffocating. So I just used it in between contractions to give myself a good time

When I related this at a 'birth refresher' workshop recently the midwife in charge was very disapproving, so I should point out that I'm not recommending anyone else do likewise.

And of course I'll leave it well alone during my next labor

it seemed to do nothing 1st time round and I was being sick (generally, don't think it was the G&A)

2nd time it helped

When my waters broke i was high on gas and air and the midwife said " your waters have broken and there green which means the baby could be in distress"
Dp gets all paniky asking lots of relevent questions
"I say ohh what shade of green" ?????

i was on another planet

LOVED it. Best way I can describe it is 'in the room but not of the room' - I could hear and understand everything going on around me, but couldn't interact with it. Warning though...dh didn't know to take it away from me between contractions (he didn't want a fight... ha ha!!) so after about 20mins pure gas and air I passed out in the birth pool and had to be hoiked out. Great out of body experience though! It was brill to bite on during pushing, and really came into its own as pain relief during stitches - if I felt anything I took a big draw of it and the pain melted away but dh was like 'stop trying to speak you're making no sense'!!

I loved gas and air with all 4 of my normal deliveries. I always had the full mask though because I don't get on with having plastic in my mouth.

So when I had the ECV with DD2 and they gave me the gas with the tube bit, the first 2 or 3 breaths made me heave

Only had it when I had stitches and not during labour but thought it was fantastic.

I was a little sick to begin with but that soon passed. I can't say it took the pain away but it certainly helped get me to the point when I was allowed an epidural ... and that took many many hours!

It is fab!!! I wish they sold it in the shops - I would be having a puff on it most days!

I loved it

Made me thirsty though. I like to crunch ice cubes between puffs on the G&A

Do remember to keep taking it if you're being stitched up after.

Wonderful stuff.

Thanks all - it all sounds like it is good stuff so far!

Can asthmatics use it?

i have mild asthma and i was ok

Yuch - used gas and air - made me feel really sick - in fact I did a projectile vomit (twice) all over the poor midwife - she must have wondered what she had done to deserve me.

My reaction could have been due to the fact that general anaesthetic always makes me sick.

Personally, I'd go for an epidural every time - blissful once they had managed to freeze both sides of me rather than just one! Don't you just love doctors!

I used it and found it really good, didn't take the painaway but took the edge off it. I didn't feel sick or woozy (and I don't drink so think I'd feel it more ) It wasn't enough for me to get to the end of labour so I had an epidural and this is what made me vomit (repeatedly. Projectile. Nasty. Anti nausea drug afterwards only thing to stop it... GA does same to me though)
Incidentally I'm due again soon and am hoping to get through it on G and A alone [brave]