Talk to me about epidurals

[Al991]

I’m due to have an induction for first baby and I feel it’s likely I’ll end up on the drip. From everything I’ve read/heard this is absolutely horrendous pain wise and I’m worried I won’t be able to cope. Most have advised me to get an epidural.

Before I needed the induction I was planning I was planning a nice calm water birth with gas & air!!! (Probably a pipe dream i know) so definitely no epidural on the cards.

can some people share their experiences of having an epidural, what it felt like and how it impacted pushing etc?

I've had a natural birth that was horrendous. Needed an epidural eventually and later forceps.
I've also had an induction and the drip. Much much quicker. Yes it hurt but it was over and done with so much faster and I wasn't shattered. No epidural and no forceps. I told the midwife it was much better and she said with the drip they can speed things up by just giving more of the drip so have more control and frankly can have it done with.
I'd that the induction and drip again over natural progression any day.

Also being able to walk and shower post birth was brilliant compared to post epidural.

Not disputing this at all but I had an epidural and was able to do that afterwards

Yes I was straight up walking around and had a shower, went to the toilet etc after my epidural :)

I was induced on the drip and I'm really happy that I got the epidural. I felt calm and "present" (the pethidine makes you feel distant and removed, acc to my midwife). It didn't cause any issues with pushing. The main goal is healthy baby, healthy mother. Congratulations! You've got this!

If you haven't already found the labourpains website (labourpains.org), it may be worth taking a look. It's a patient info site run by the Obstetric Anaesthetist Association and has a load of really useful stuff relating to pain relief in labour and anaesthesia. HTH

I had an epidural with both mine. With DD I tried for a while without but it was too painful. The epidural took forever to work, definitely no instant relief for me, and even though it was turned up to the max I still felt a lot.

With DS I was induced and had an epidural before starting that. It was great and took the pain away very well but it made me feel awful, so sick and faint. It also stopped working but was re-sited and worked really well after that.

If I ever had another the only thing on my birth plan would be getting an epidural!

I've had two inductions. Neither went to drip. I had gas and air and a pool for the first one and then gas and air for the second.

I'd buy epidurals on the street if they were available- bloody brilliant and helped so much with the pain of contractions.

Drip both times. One for spontaneous labour, one for suspected PROM. Epidural both times but sadly failed second time. Would recommend. Get it early so there’s time to move it if I goes in wrong (I was asked repeatedly but left it too late). Labour was much more relaxed with the epidural, you do feel it but it’s much more pressure than pain. But even without it was short lived, and I assume I had the more painful contractions due to the drip.

I had an induction with DS3. Drip in just before 6pm baby out at 8:47pm. No epidural, just a bit of gas and air toward the end. No stitches either. It was easily my best birth of the three. I'd been really worried about induction too.

I arrived at my local maternity unit about 12 hours into natural labour, first baby 41+1. After less than an hour they suggested the drip. There was no need for intervention, so I said no. Next thing I was hooked up to one.
Which caused huge crashing, debilitating contractions that I couldn't cope with so I requested (begged) for an epidural. I had feared the drip for a reason and that reason precisely happened - they lost baby's heartbeat due to the increased stress. They said they wanted to put a clip on her head (still inside me), I said no because they'd have to break her skin to do so and I didn’t want her to feel any pain. They did it anyway.
I did get an epidural (instant relief) and managed to push baby out within an hour with no other interventions. But once home (discharged from delivery room I couldn't sit down comfortably

I was induced at 36+5, had the gel for 24 hours, then had my waters broken. Pain went from 0-100 within 5 minutes, I was climbing the walls with pain. I couldn't hold a conversation & the only words I could say were swear words including get me an funking epidural now & when I was told I would have to wait, I don't give a fuck, get me one now. I don't remember this at all but my mum & exh have told me. I got my epidural after 3 hours & everyone said my face changed the minute the needle went in & I stopped swearing. I was in labour for 60 hours in total, but my induction failed, I had to have an emcs. I had severe pre eclampsia & they left my epidural working for 24 hours after as I was critically ill & was in high dependency.

Sorry, missed the last bit off there : couldn't put my back against a chair or lie on my back in bed. It hurt for a couple of weeks or so.
12 years later I still know exactly where the epidural went in and hate it being touched, it's like a horrible twanging sensation that goes through my spine.

Tbf the epidural was heaven while it lasted. I cried thanking the anaesthetist.

Hi all thank you so much for sharing your experiences :) I ended up going into labour from propess but was having contractions every 3 mins for more than 24 hours before I was able to get a cervix exam to confirm that’s what it was. By that point the contractions were unbearable and I’d only had paracetamol. I’ve never given birth before but feel like they were maybe worse because of propess?

As soon as they got me to labour ward I begged for an epidural and it was fantastic - I was finally able to think beyond the pain.

Later I was put on the drip to help things progress and it broke riiiight through the epidural putting me back in intense pain so I couldn’t push, but had a top up and put me back on track 🥳

I ended up with quite a severe tear, not sure if that’s related to everything else that happened, but we’re both home happy and healthy.

If anyone is reading this and considering getting the epidural, I would 100% say do it. Before I had it I had lost my ‘self’ to the pain, like I was watching myself from above and I wouldn’t have had a birth experience at all let alone a positive one. Because of the epidural I was present in the room and excited to meet my baby.

Congrats OP! Happy to hear you're both home safe and well x ❤️ glad the epidural helped you