Epidural- how does it feel?

[Kardelen]

Hi guys!
for anyone who has had epidural how did it feel when they were putting needle? Also how many cm were you dilated when they did?

how was the recovery? How many hours after birthing were you able to mobilise?

i heard horror stories of epidural- in fact when I had my first baby, the lady opposite me couldn’t walk even after a few days, but eventually the sensation came a little and they gave her crutches to be discharged with.

This is one of my worst nightmares but I can’t go through that pain again!

I didn't give birth in the UK though so policy was to only put in when about to start pushing phase and no other pain relief options. Which is perhaps why it ended In dural puncture. This is probably less likely in the UK.

I've had two. I didn't feel it either time.

I got an epidural at 6cm dilated. Ended up with a section anyway. The punctured the wrong space in my back and I had to have a blood patch treatment the following week as the headache was awful!! Missed the first 5 days of my baby's life. On the other hand it did make labour pain free and it wasn't sore putting getting it in

I was given a small amount of local anaesthetic prior to the epidural. This stung a bit but really not too bad. Completely pain free after this.

Same

Had an epidural with my second. Compared to my first birth jt was amazing and nearly painfree. I was so happy I had the painfree birth I wanted. I was exhausted after my first and really struggled. I could feel the contractions when pushing (just feel didn’t hurt), and baby’s head coming out still hurt. Small minor tear, no episiotomy. Could walk very soon after.

I could feel needle going in but that was 10 seconds of pain vs hours of pain. If I had a 3rd I would definitely have an epidural again.

I was in bloody agony - back to back labour - so TBH I didn't even notice the epidural going in !

They give you a local before doing it- don't worry at all!

18 years on, I don't really remember anything apart from being told that if I wanted it, it had to be then or it would be too late. So I took it and was so, so glad that I did. From that, I can only assume it wasn't too painful or problematic afterwards. Pretty sure I was up and about within a few hours, as had DC late afternoon and had visitors that evening.

I was 4/4.5 cm

Unfortunately for my second pregnancy the junior Dr tried 3 times to get the needle in and couldn't

The second doctor tried three times too but on the third go I got the huge electric shock feel and I jumped out my skin. They really told me off but it was involuntary...

Gave birth almost pain free. Just felt a little pain on my left side (sometimes it doesn't reach all pain receptors).

However, I got the tear in my spinal cord and I had a horrendous headache. I tried to go without treatment for 3 or 4 days but it was utter agony and I couldn't handle it any more. I was readmitted to hospital and had a blood patch which is essential and epidural again using 50ml of blood pumped in so that it clots over the hole.

Even a yr later I have back issues that I am absolutely certain are related to the epidural.

I thought they were pretty safe but the tears and headaches happen are 1 in 100 so actually very common

If I could go back I wouldnt have one. I'd go for a water birth and gas and air instead.

The only thing I felt was an electric shock down one leg, from putting the needle in I never felt any more pain, exh said my face relaxed straight away from being like a wild animal screaming in agony. I got mine at 2-3cm as they wanted my BP to come down as I had severe pre eclampsia BP 215/120. I didn't get any feeling back for 48 hours but they left the epidural in as I was extremely poorly to the point they were worried I could die & was in HDU.

Dural puncture that's it! And post dural headache.
The worst headache you will ever experience if you have one.

Magical.
For me there was a local that seemed to be a small needle sensation then the big one was more tugging than painful. The hardest part was arching my back while 5 days overdue! They kind of timed it to be between contractions so I concentrate if that makes sense?
Then it was cold sensation and my ears were ringing like when you are drunk. Couldn’t move or feel a thing from where a bra would be down to my toes.
As it wore off it felt like the same sensation when the dental anaesthetic wears off - a bit like pins and needles and my leave felt heavy then fine. That was about 4 hours after my section.
10/10 would recommend 👍🏼

I’ve had three. Didn’t feel it going in at all any time. First time round I was extremely glad I had it as DS1 became distressed and they needed to get him out fast. If I hadn’t had the epidural in situ already they would have had to give me a general anaesthetic for the c section.

2nd and 3rd births both had epidurals and both were ‘normal’ deliveries. It is absolutely not a given that an epidural will lead to a section. In my case it turned very painful hellish experiences into something quite enjoyable.

I’ve had 2 epidurals.
Don’t remember them being particularly painful going in and I am a little needle phobic in that I fear injections. However, I wanted an epidural both times as I welcomed the pain relief they bring. I recovered quickly after delivery and could go to the toilet on my own soon afterwards. I would 100 % get one again if I had a 3rd baby.

Had one as after being induced it went to emergency c section for my little boy. Didn't feel a thing. I had epidural first then then when they realised he was stuck a spinal tap before section. I wouldn't say it was hard to get my legs moving. The only reason I was in bed for a day was because they had my legs in inflatable cuff things and a catheter so I couldn't easily get off the bed. Once those were off I was fine. Just walking a lot more gingerly due to the section scar. My anaesthetist did tell me to ask the nurses on the antenatal ward specifically for 'oramorph'.
He said they try to just give you paracetamol and his words were it won't even touch the sides of what you need. The oramorph was great - so I was thankful for him giving me a heads up on that one xx best of luck xxx

During back-to-back labour, they could have fired that thing into me with a crossbow and I would have smiled beatifically.

As far as I recall, it was briefly, mildly painful and then brilliant. I had a nice nap.

I'm a midwife and have never seen any negative effects from one

This was my experience too. I had the electric shock down my right leg, had 3 x Dural taps but fortunate enough for no headache.

But had back to back labour so they could have removed my entire spine and I'd have been grateful

I don't remember any pain from the epidural being set up, but I will never forget the relief it brought from my contractions!

I went to emergency C Section, had no pain, but yes could feeling pulling and pushing and tugging sensations.

My recovery was fine, I had no problems getting up and walking around the bed later the same day - my catheter was trickier to deal with than any after effects of the epidural.

No memory of any epidural pain. It didn't really work for baby 1 as I had really bad water retention but was bloody marvelous for baby 2.

I didn't have an epidural with DC1, as I felt I had enough risk factors already for an assisted birth without one. Luckily labour progressed normally, and I managed without one.

DC2 was a whole other ball game. While I was much more mobile, and overall more tolerant of the pain, progress was sloooooow. In the 10 hours I'd been hooked up to the drip, I'd progressed from 2 to a measly 5cm. For context, in the same amount of time, I'd dilated to 9cm (from 1) with DC1. Baby was back to back as well, so I knew opioids (my preferred choice) would likely wear off long before full dilation, landing me back at square one. Gas+air was no longer sufficient, and the pain was intolerable, so epidural it was!

I had to wait 90 minutes for the anaesthetist. Not bad for a Friday night handover request. Though contractions continued even though the drip was turned off.

Once the anaesthetist arrived, they checked I definitely wanted the epidural, and went through the risks of the procedure. They got me into position (sat on the edge of the bed, feet on a chair, hunched over a pillow to help open the spaces between vertebrae). My back was sprayed with chlorhexidine (so COLD!) to sterilise it. Local anaesthetic was injected (stings and burns for a moment, but quickly goes numb), then the epidural needle was inserted. I won't lie, I could feel the needle. It wasn't quite sharp, but it was more than the pushing feeling I was led to believe. I was desperate for respite from contractions, so I told the anaesthetist I could tolerate it and to continue, which she did. It all went well, no nerves were touched by the needle causing any electric shock sensation. I got the cold wave, which felt wonderful, and contraction pain lessened immediately, but didn't quite disappear. They didn't disappear completely until after a few boluses from hitting the top up button. I could still feel and move my legs which was unexpected. I never got the opportunity to see if I could stand or even walk, though I think I could have.

Unfortunately I didn't go on to have a vaginal delivery. Baby was stuck and starting to show signs of distress, so I had a C-section. Having the epidural in-situ was nice, as it just needed to be topped up. Needed quite a hefty amount of top up too, as I could still feel the cold spray when I shouldn't. Once the C-section was over, I was out of theatre by 3am, had most of the feeling back in my legs by 5am, and could stand and take a couple of steps by 7am. Full sensation back by maybe 8.30am.

Best of luck with everything.

I call it the happi-dural, bloody brilliant! I just couldn't cope on gas and air. No trouble pushing. I had a retained placenta with both of mine and it took an hour to come out (pulled out) so it had to be topped up. Still recovered quickly though.

It was bliss.