Pain Relief??

[ThirdTimeLucky27]

I'm being induced in 2 days with my 3rd baby!
2 previous births were without any pain relief, I believe mainly because I was quite young and midwives thought I was just making a fuss.. I did say HAH on the inside when they didn't have time to get their gloves on.. and then with the second I didn't get to the hospital. Luckily I'm at a different hospital this time and everyone I've seen has been lovely.

Anyway..
What pain relief am I likely to be offered? How did the pain relief make you feel? I really don't want to feel too out of it as this will only make me anxious.

Thank you in advance ♥️

I was given codeine (never had any affect on me for tooth work either), and then diamorphine, which was lovely! I went from literally wailing and sobbing to chilling in a chair listening to music. I was out of it, but it was very pleasant, nice and snuggly! I had anti sickness injection at the same time. I had gas and air when she was crowning, and that did make me feel out of it, like horrifically drunk. I refused to give it up until after they'd finished stitching me (took an hour for a deep second degree - shoulder dystocia), even though it didn't help one bit for the pain!

They did try to offer an epidural when the diamorphine was wearing off as they expected me in for a long time, but then the mooing started and she was born extremely quickly! I wanted to avoid an epidural too for the complication reasons.

Good luck!

I had paracetamol (LOL) then codine (made me sick) and then gas and air and diamorphine. I’m assuming the latter did something, had one injection and would’ve asked for more if I could’ve had it 😂

Do they not offer pain relief when stitching you up?

talk to your midwife they should go through absolutely everything with you, there is a 40 mins appointment dedicated to it

I had an epidural and fentanyl for DS as his labour took forever to establish and I was knackered. Didn't have any side effects with those. Had paracetamol and gas and air for DD, the gas made me very lightheaded but there wasn't time for anything else. They had to take it away from me cuz I was huffing too heavily on it 🤣

When I was stitched, the first time was fine cuz the epidural was still in effect, the second time I had the gas to huff on because it doesn't half hurt when they're stabbing you down there with local anaesthetic! Even though I was numb it still felt bloody weird when the stitches were being done!

I had an injection of local anaesthetic when being stitched but I felt every bit of it.. Think that was worse than the contractions!

She handed me 2 paracetamol with my first, I wanted to chuck them back at her 😂

The exact varieties might differ by trust/availability due to shortages.

But in general there will be the option of: paracetamol/codeine for early labour, gas+air, short acting opioids (e.g. pethidine, Meptid, diamorphine), and epidural. Some places might also offer things like sterile water injections into your back or remifentanil PCA.

There's also the option of you bringing your own TENS machine. Also, do not underestimate the relief a simple cold/heat pack can bring. Finally things your partner can do like massage or counter pressure.

I went into both inductions planning to start off on minimal pain relief, increasing as I felt necessary. Started out with paracetamol and codeine. Not sure they did anything, but couldn't hurt to try. Rapidly moved on to gas+air once contractions got going. Great stuff. Made me a bit dizzy initially, but once I was used to it, it was amazing for getting through contractions.

At 5cm I needed something a bit stronger. With my first, I had diamorphine injection. I was well and truly put of it with this. Asleep between the peaks of contractions out of it. It was good, but I have very few memories of that time, plus the immediate time post birth. With my second, I had an epidural. Didn't really want one, but labour had been protracted, and I knew all the other options might not last long enough to see baby delivered. It worked well, and I could still move my legs which I didn't expect. A few hours later the call was made for C-section (nothing to do with the epidural), so it was good to simply top up for the operation.

Wouldn't change anything if I had to go through the either delivery again. If I had a third, I might have a lower threshold for an epidural, but that would be it.

Thanks all.. Baby girl was born at 1.07am on the 8th December. Had waters broken around 4pm. Contractions started around 11.30pm whilst waiting to be put on the drip. I'd asked for an epidural before the drip but the doctors were called away for an emergency c section. Doctors came in again around 1am to do the epidural, by that point contractions were intense. They got me all prepped and even had the needle in my back, as I announced it's too late she's about to be born 🙄 They helped me onto my back and with one push she was there. It was intense but overall very positive ♥️