Epidural-still can't decide-36 wks pgnt

[laughaminute]

Hi please help me to make an informed decission, have had 2 children and both labours left me 'stuck' for want of a better word @ 9cm dilated and trying not to push for 4 hours with BOTH children, after much discussion it appears that they will not prioritise 'pain' over problematic labours in a hospital,hence my long waits both times for a registrar to tend to my needs-(And this I agree with) hence I was left in a ridiculous amount of pain both times.(Second time far worse too).both times I tried the no pain relief version for as long as I possibly could but second time I simply had to have epidural (9lb 2oz baby back to back-ouch').I have been told it is likely to happen again dure to cervix shape-this really scares me and I am thinking about it daily.Despite all of this I was intending to try for a natural birth right throughout this pregnancy,however, time is rapidly approaching and I am wondering if to simply request epidural on arrival to save all this worry.My reason for not wanting to do this was i felt it was chikens way out and also may slow down my labour thus leading to possible c-section but now I think I am so scared that I ought to have epidural in my birth plan right from point of arrival at delivery suite-opinions please????I won't act on any Mumsnet advice however am interrested in peoples experiences of either situation????Thanks

My antenatal osteopath is not into brainwashing women that they have to have a natural birth.

In some hospitals, you are not tied to a bed with a walking epidural. But an epidural (much less a walking epidural) is not even a realistic option for many women in the UK.

can you not have it in, let it wear off and then use it later if you need it?

anagram -you are belittling, not me. if someone wants an epi straight off, thats fine with me. i said thats what id do if i were tho op in fact...

Try being more civil in your posts. It might help get your message across.

BoysOnToast, don't worry, your posts have been perfectly civil. Sounds like Anagram has all sorts of issues about having been 'failed' by some 'natural birth industry'. I think it's up to people to be informed about the risk factors associated with a more medicalised birth and then make their own decision. I didnt go for the epidural route and am glad i didnt, but if you think it's best for you, then fine.

thank you alfiesbabe.

i was civil anagram. i just didnt/dont agree with what youre saying and said so. thankfully, that's what mn is all about.

I loved my epidural and I read that it only prolongs labour by an average of 25 minutes. I had mine after about 3 contractions (induction) as I am a big wimp when it comes to needles so I knew I would need to have it fairly early on or I would freak about potentially moving if a contraction came whilst they were putting the needle in.

I was lucky it seems and within minutes of asking the doctor came and did it but I know this doesn't always happen, I think if it's that important to you ask as soon as you go in. Oh and mine was a "mobile" epidural but I couldn't move after the first top up - not that I wanted to, all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep but the constant monitoring was a pain in the ass.

Just to add (because it came up) the national average is about 30% in the US, but in my state it's around 40%. anywhere from 70-90% of women have epidurals too.

as far as i understand it, you need an anesthetist (a consultant?) to do an epidural. if you ask during working hours and they dont happen to be in theatre on an operation, you are likely to get one fairly quickly. whereas if you ask at night, less so. i think thats where the delays happen that people talk about. which is rubbish if you ask me. if men did the baby-bearing you can be damn sure that aneasthetists would be around any hour, in abundance!

being induced hurts like fck from what i hear. as do back to back deliveries... among other complications. and you can take it from someone who was LUCKY to have had piss-easy, straightforward, bullet-from-a-gun labours all 3 times, that given either of those situations id be taking the drugs in spades.

i do NOT believe we should be in pain as a mark of greatness, as a mark of good motherliness, as a mark of womanhood. bollocks to that. BUT, i do not think that saying things like 'IT FUCKING HURTS, TAKE THE EPIS, IN FACT HAVE A CS, IMMEDIATELY' is remotely helpful.

i think there are a great many who need and deserve a greater and more accessible range of pain relief. but i also believe that the pain for a great many of us is manageable and bearable if we are in the LUCKY position that i was; to have a straightforward birth, to have people and professionals around us who we trust to do right by us, to be clued up and informed enough to know the implications of every choice that may arise, and to trust our bodies to maybe do what they were built to do.

I was induced (full drips and everything) and didn't use any pain relief, so it can be done, and I didn't find my firt birth any more painful than the second. In fact I enjoyed it more.

It's funny how things go in waves. It wasn't that long ago when women were knocked out and woke up with a baby. We fought to have drug free births, and now the trend has gone back to wanting the drugs.

lol. yeah well, knocked out and waking up with a baby (and not being able to bf due to the drugs and having been knocked sideways by them) was prob not quite the ideal...

hey mom2... thats good to hear re the induction not being the Worst Thing Ever... if i ever need one i shall think of you and not dread the worst before giving the reality a chance to pan out the way it chooses to...

That happened to my friends mom. She was having a long labor so they knocked her out, and she woke up with a baby. I think that had to do a vacuum extraction to get her out.

Hypnobirthing all the way.

I literally slept through most of my induction. After ds1 was born I said "Wow, that was fast" My husband said, "No you were pushing him out for two hours".

After I had him people didn't believe that I didn't use any drugs, and that is the problem. A lot of women have been convinced that they can't give birth without drugs.

i agree mom2.

i do not think that enough women are going into labour with

A; enough information, nor,

B; an open enough mind (which they couldnt have without enough information)

anybody saying anything prescriptive about birth at all does not help that situation.

NO, not all women can channel their inner cavewoman and push the baby out without a raised eyebrow,

NOR do all women need drugs and doctors and Operating Rooms and bundles of cash to afford all the 'right' stuff like pools and doulas and private rooms and anesthetists on call etc etc etc.

(tho i would totally recommend the birth pool route, paid for or otherwise. my water births were AMAZING)

Just a comment on my experience on intervention and breastfeeding, I had every intervention going bar a c-section and could not feed my baby for the first week as he was in intensive care. He had to learn to suck again, but we are breastfeeding pros! He is 8 weeks now and has gone from 7lb4 to about 11lb and we both enjoy feeding. It is possible so don't think that an epidural and intervention means you can't breastfeed as well.