Did the epidural slow down your labour

[anonny55]

I've heard mixed and would like to hear some more experiences of getting the epidural!

It's time to start thinking about a rough idea of labour plans. I'm thinking if I have a spontaneous labour I'll last it out as long as possible hoping to not have one. If I have to be induced and a hormone drip used I will ask for an epidural at the same time as I've heard induced labour is way more painful.

From what I can figure out you can have your waters popped at 3cm then the drip if no progress..is this way to early for the epidural? Will it slow down the labour or even make me not progress at all?

Reasons id like one -
I'm not good with pain at all!
I've heard that you may tear and it's super painful after even with a lidocaine numbing shot everything was still felt , if I have the epidural I'll be numb already..
A more bare able labour
If I needed an emergency c section I wouldn't need to get another needle in the back in a rushed setting which also scares me (I think they just top it up, correct me if I'm wrong?)

Reasons id be against -
Potential long term back problems although I don't know anyone personally who's suffered with this
Not being able to be mobile
Labour may slow down or not progress at all
Is there a longer hospital stay after birth if you've had an epidural?

Please leave your advice below..tia x

Hi, OP

I had an epidural with my first baby, it didn't slow down labour or give me long term back pain.

I needed to stay in hospital for 3 days which l didn't like because it is anything but restful and just too much stress especially with a new baby. Found my recovery definitely took longer.

No one should being having their membranes artificially ruptured at 3cms unless there is a clear clinical indication to do so.

Some theories and evidence argue early epidurals can slow down labour when given early on because unless you get a block that allows mobility you’re more likely to be stuck on your back, monitored and not actively assisting the passenger (your baby) to move down and navigate your pelvis. It’s not ALL about contractions, Mothers body movements and baby alongside contractions are helping each other negotiate the passage. The longer the epidural remains in situ generally the less and less mobile you become, needing support for your legs, help to change position (onto your side etc)

The research has not been defintive either way (as far as I know to date) if the overall length of labour is affected by epidurals. Some studies say it is, some say not. Anaesthetists will tell you about the studies that say it doesn’t and midwives tend to tell you about the ones that say it does.

What actually matters the MOST, is that you experience a birth you feel happy with, that could be a long labour with an epidural just as easily as a shorter one without, it’s about you feeling in control and ending the experience with your baby in your arms and that baby being the only thing you take home afterwards, not a suitcase full of trauma.

Wow 3 days solely because you had an epidural or was there other contributing factors? Thats enough to put me off id go crazy!😆

IME labour was already slow before I had the epidural, but that was because of the position of the baby. And it was for that reason I eventually had an emergency C-section (you're correct, they top it up. If it's not working or not fully numbing, they'll take it out and do a spinal instead). I couldn't tell you if labour slowed down further, as I only had the epidural in for a few hours before the call was made to have a C-section. Baby was delivered a few hours after that.

I think length of labour and needing an epidural is definitely correlative, but not necessarily causative. Both mine were induced and on the drip, but with my second I only got to 5cm in the same amount of time it took for me to get to fully and deliver my first. If it helps, I tore with my first, and had both the lidocaine injection, and gas+air. I was aware of occasional tugging, but nothing more than that.

Anaesthetists are amazing, but there are very few times where they'd need to rush to put in a spinal. So don't worry about that.

I will admit that I have had back problems since the epidural. Nothing debilitating, and I have other issues that could equally be causing the back pain, so I'm hesitant to blame the epidural.

All in all, I do not regret getting the epidural, despite being a sceptic prior. It was the right call for me in the circumstances, and I wouldn't change any of my decisions in hindsight.

If you've not already seen the labourpains.org website it's probably worth a look - it's run by the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association and has lots of objective and accurate information on it (a lot of us use their information sheets as part of the consent process for epidurals/anaesthetics on labour ward).

Picking up on a few of your points in very general terms...
Reasons id like one -
I've heard that you may tear and it's super painful after even with a lidocaine numbing shot everything was still felt , if I have the epidural I'll be numb already. Analgesic epidurals do not always give dense numbness for tear repairs and local top-ups by the MW or surgeon may be needed even for a repair in the room.

If I needed an emergency c section I wouldn't need to get another needle in the back in a rushed setting which also scares me (I think they just top it up, correct me if I'm wrong?). Where an epidural has been in for a while and has worked well in labour then yes, it is often possible to top it up with a more concentrated anaesthetic cocktail to get someone numb enough for surgery. However, 1:8 epidurals don't work perfectly in labour and in that case it may be better to switch to doing a spinal anaesthetic for a trip to theatre. In a real emergency (life threatening scenario rather than something like labour just not progressing) then GA would often be the plan even with an epidural in.

Reasons id be against -
Potential long term back problems although I don't know anyone personally who's suffered with this. Epidural needle trauma doesn't commonly cause long term back problems (we do epidural injections to help chronic back problems). Being pregnant/immobile/pushing a baby out/or, if you need to come to theatre, the profound muscle & ligament relaxation you get with either an anaesthetic epidural/spinal/GA can all contribute to a stiff back afterwards.

Labour may slow down or not progress at all. Very early (pre-labour) epidurals may slow things down enough to make a significant difference, but the relationship between epidurals and eg. forceps deliveries is an association rather than clearly causative one. There are so many variables to think about that can affect labour progress though that there will probably never be a particularly convincing statement re. the impact of epidurals on labour that is applicable to all women. That said, it is common for women with an epidural to need a bit longer to push a baby out and that is usually taken into account by the MWs/obstetricians. The most commonly used epidural protocols are much lower dose than historically so the impact on progress in labour is much less than in the past. Some women do decide to have an epidural before starting the synto drip because the contractions can get pretty punchy pretty quickly once the drip's on & that's fine. There is a school of thought that women who have had some painful contractions at least get better relief from their epidurals than women who have one before they start contracting properly. Most anaesthetists are quite happy to site an epidural early on (it's usually technically easier when someone isn't thrashing about in pain!), but it's worth being aware that you'll only know if it's working well when the contractions do start building up properly.

Is there a longer hospital stay after birth if you've had an epidural? You need for the numbness to have worn off. It it's all be straightforward and you're mobile and have pee'd there's no reason purely due to the epidural to need to stay in. Obviously if you've had a section/forceps/any problems etc then you may need to stay for other reasons, but for a straightforward vaginal delivery with an epidural it may not add that much to your time in hospital.

Most anaesthetists are happy to chat through the pros & cons of all the available analgesia techniques (different units have some different options), so if you're still undecided on the day maybe ask to have a chat.

My epidural slowed to stopped progress both times and I ended up with C-sections.

@Greybeardy Thankyou so much for taking the time to give your knowledge!! I appreciate it.

Yes epidural stopped my labour. I was progressing very quickly, had an epidural and it stopped my contractions completely. Then had to have the hormone drip to get it started again and ended up with forceps.

I don't think it affected mine although expect my son would have been born earlier if I'd not had the epidural.

DD1: labour was progressing probably at the "ideal" 1cm per hour and the epidural didn't change that. It took me over an hour to push her out but I think that was more technique and her being my first than anything to do with the epidural. I used a peanut ball between my legs to keep my pelvis open. Total labour: ~5 hours

DS: he was an induction and I got the epidural straight away. It was super strong so I didn't feel him drop into my pelvis or any urge to push. When I started pushing he was out in a couple of minutes. Maybe he'd have come more quickly if I'd felt the urge to push but it would only have been the difference of an hour or less I'd imagine. Total labour: almost 7 hours

DD2: labour was progressing slowly at 1cm every 2 hours and the epidural didn't change that progression. Once I got to 7cm she suddenly dropped into my pelvis and by this point the epidural wasn't very strong so I felt that and pushed her out in about 30 minutes. Total labour: ~10 hours.

They've gotten slower each time! I don't think the epidural has really been a factor in that.

On the tearing point I tore with DD2 and definitely had a lot of feeling in the area despite the epidural (the Dr tested by giving me a pinch with tweezers before starting the repair and I definitely felt that!). Anyway I barely felt the lidocaine shots, definitely wouldn't describe them as painful, and didn't feel the stitching at all.

I did love my epidurals though and would recommend them. With DD2 I waited until I couldn't handle the pain and then got a very light epidural. When the pain started coming back I was just about to increase the dose and then she started to be born. It was the perfect balance for me.

Yes. Ended up with forceps delivery.

Pretty sure you're more likely to tear with an epidural as you can't control your pushing the same. Slow pushes are better. If your numb you're just pushing when they tell you. And you're way less mobile and able to get into good positions. Also you're sort of stuck for a while after Borth whereas without one you're in control of your body straight away.

2 natural births and it wasn't that bad. I'd definitely try without, do some hypoborthing- it does help you learn how to breathe through the contractions. Both my waters went when I started pushing so I'm not sure about having them broken at 3cm.

My labour with my first was extremely slow so when they wanted to try the drip to try to speed things up o had an epidural first. I did have an emcs but dc wouldn’t have come out by any other means as they were too big.
Ended up with an unplanned VBAC for no 2. And I really wanted an epidural half way through pushing but they told me it was too late. I did have an episiotomy it didn’t feel it. The stitching up was a bit painful afterwards though

Had an epidural before they started the hormone drip. That labour was pretty long for me took about 5 hours. My last baby was one hour. But he was back to back and very comfy in there so probably would've took a while anyways. Also my biggest baby at 9lb.

But I only had to stay in for one night as that was only for baby to have a blood test repeated due to thyroid issues in me. I was up after birth and walking about tore a little but have done with all my kids. Same place everytime as scar tissue dosent stretch.

Lots to think about! Thanks all for the help

9lb wow! I'm also measuring to have a similar size baby at full term