mum's who've had epidurals - would you have another one?????

[liznay]

I'm having my first baby in 12 weeks or so and having watched around 100 births now on Discovery H&H i'm convinced that I'm going to have an epidural.

Why is every (wo)man and his dog trying to talk me out of it though? I don't understand why someone would want to be in that much pain when you can choose not to?
I know there are risks attached to having an epidural but some people have said I won't be able to push the baby out.
I was under the illusion that women have given birth whilst in a coma, so why wouldn't the contractions ease the baby down the birth canal?

If you've had an epidural or if you had both a natural birth and an epidural to compare the two - would you have another one?

I don't really think you can decide in advance, especially of your first labour, what will be right for you...baby's position, speed of labour etc are all unknowns...be informed so that you can make the right choices for you when you are in the situation was my plan...
I notice lots of posts in which women had an epi for first but not subsequent babies and things were much better the 2nd time round...I've had 2, no epi (never felt it essential), ds2 was much easier - I think 1st babies are just harder, and it (usually) takes longer, too...not neccessarily due to the epi, IYSWIM...

and best wishes for your birth!

I had an epidural.
I'd do it again
ended in episiotomy and ventouse, all not lovely, but if I had to have a non cs birth again, I'd plead for epidural again.
Make SURE you ask for it straight away as you will have to wait for the anesthesiologist to be free... took 32 hours to get it. pethadine gave me a little break in middle for a couple hours. Gas and air VERY necessary for contractions in meantime.
Also if you can get mw to put in your notes that you want one, that helps.

Hey, birth is not automatic!! Believe me!! That's why it's called 'labour'. You have to actually do most of the work!! It came as a great shock to me, this!!

I think you have to wait to see how you feel in labour, really, but don't overestimate a) the effectiveness of an epidural and b) the increased recovery time it might bring with it. That's probably why people are urging caution.

It all depends on the position and size of the baby, and how insane with pain you are feeling. I had one epidural followed by two water births, all with very skilled midwives. Funnily enough I found the birth with the epidural hurt MORE because it took longer and crowning hurt more. I had 2nd degree tears that time as well - it was such a mess the registrar had to be brought down to stitch up my bits. I decided to try doing without for the second one - I practised using a Tens machine for the 3 weeks before the birth (they work best if your body knows what to expect, I found), then took it off when the action was hotting up and I got into the water pool (electrocution is obviously not an option!) The birth was easier that time, even though the baby was, 8lbs, 1lb heavier than the last one. Hardly anything that could be called a tear - just a little graze. The third time I had a 9lb baby who came out in the 'superman' position with one hand by his head, and I had to push for England to get him out, but it was still better than the epidural birth had been, and again I only really had a little graze. For my fourth one I'm doing the home water birth thing again and hoping for the best.

Regarding pain relief, I am no super-natural-earth-mother kind of person, but I think on balance that if you can get into the zone mentally in the first stage, it's really a lot easier to bear the pain, but simply the act of travelling to hospital can destroy any vestige of Zen calmness you manage to muster up, which is one of the reasons I am happier at home. On the other hand, second stage is never nice, and if they ever invent something to stop the pain of crowning I will be first in the queue, believe me. Similarly if this baby is much bigger than the last one, I shall definitely be investigating caesarians!!

See how you get on, anyway, and bless modern science for the lovely drugs if you lose your grip on the pain and feel you need them. But try to have a bit of confidence in natural processes as well, because you get over the birth a bit quicker if this all works in your favour.

I totally agree about labour being blooming hard physical exertion - and I think this was the one thing I wasn't really prepared for.
I was shocked at the pain of giving birth first time around. Crowning was indescribable. However, I'm really glad that I did it without an epidural - I agree that a lot of it is about getting into the zone mentally.

i have had two epidural births and one natural as such (my first birth). Both the epidural births were 7 hours long, perfect really. I pushed babies out fine, no tears etc. If i had more children which i am not planning, i would choose an epidural again.

I had one the first time but they wouldnt let me the 2nd time I was most unimpressed!

i had an epidural with my little girl and i would recommend it...i was only in labour 8 and a half hours (good for my first im told)and it only took me 10 mins to push....the only downside was when they turned the dosage dwn i started feelin the contractions again.but once they turned it bk up i was fine.....im currently tryin for another baby and would have 1 again.....i was getting very worked up not being able to move in the first stages of my labour (i was hooked up to a monitor th whole time) but once i had the epidural i felt totally relaxed.in the end i loved my labour......but i will warn its not the same for every1 i was lucky to have a good experience

I haven't read the whole thread but just wanted to add that I think a lot depends on your anaesthetist. With dd I had an epidural after getting to only 3cm in 8 hours, and was absolutely exhausted - but it was very carefully 'dosed' mobile eipdural so I could basically feel everything except the pain. So I could lie/sit in positions that would help move labour along, and when it came to pushing (3 hours later) I just pushed with the contractions. It took about 15 mins to get her out. No interventions, no tearing, and I was walking around after an hour. I actually really enjoyed it! Now expecting dc2 and while I will try to do it without, I won't be at all worried if at some point I feel like I can't handle it and go for the eipdural again. But I do think you need to be confident of the care you will get.

I recently gave birth to my first baby and in spite of being induced, was not given an epidural and just used gas and air. Apparently they (perhaps mistakenly!) thought I had a very high pain threshold...

However, the experience was incredibly intense and I was pretty traumatised immediately after the birth - I'd definitely recommend an epidural for anyone else being induced.

I a spinal block with 1st dc.
Au naturel with 2nd.
Deffo recommend having as little as possible in the way of pain relief, the reason being you recover sooo much quicker, and you can concentrate on what you're doing.
As with any drug, you are going to feel like poo later. Much better to be "with it" for the first days of your little ones life.
That being said, do what you feel like at the time, but trust your body too!
Good luck!