Your experience of an epidural wanted please

[dinny]

Hello,

I am pg with my third baby and have had the first two without any pain relief but I just don't feel capable of doing it again this time. I've never really considered an epidural but am wondering if it is the answer. Could you answer the following?

1. did it make childbirth less frightening?
2. did you have assisted delivery?
3. did you have stitches?

and any other opinions would be great - thanks v much.

oh, and your exp of pethidine too would be helpful.

hi dnny - isnt it likely thst this one will be the easiest yet as its your third? I have had both a spinal and pethidine, but never during childbirth.

Had LO 6 weeks ago at home, no drugs, no intervention, no complications (during delivery of baby), but the retained placenta meant i had to go to hosp and have it removed in theatre. They gave me a spinal block (an epidural which results in complete freeze - no feeliong below boobs). Could not feel legs. No tap as did not need to be topped up as short procedure. I was a little worried about needle etc but
a) never saw a thing
b) they numbed area first with ice spray andthen tiny TINY scratch while they inject local anaesthetic with small needle, so by the time they did big epidural needle I could not feel a thing and was over very quickly.

As legs went numb I remember thinking (having just given birh 2 hrs before) what a blessed relief it must be to have this feeling of numbness wash over you if you are in middle of ve painful cxs BUT once it was all numb I also remember feeling really clearly that it must be a horrible sensation trying to push when you cnat really feel whats going on. Obviously my spinal block must feel quite different to a good epi where you cna still walk, but I decided then that, having done it once without epi, I would not like an epi in any future pregs (unless indicated by different circumstances to my fairly straightforward birth this time round). I am also suspicious of the "cascade of intervention" which is morelikely to happen with epi. I think I am right in saying that statistically, epi slows down labour and increased risk of other interventions, so for me, I wouldnt want to.

Pethidine - bloody amazing drug in my experience (again, for me it was not used in childbirth though). It is a dissociative drug. It made me feel "high" and I remember feeling still aware of my pain, but not really caring. I would have thought it would be quite a good option for someone who is anxious about birth as it will kill 2 birds (pain and anxiety) with one stone. Also if you know you want it you can ask nice and early in labour as thye wont g9ive it later on. Downside is it does sedate the baby too hence you can get a floppy, unresponsive baby who is v sleepy for first few days if thye give it too late, hence some places do not give pethidine any more at all. Check with your hospital/MW.

Have you thought about trying hypnobirthing? I havent done it, but it might be worth investigating. Remember c section is majot=r abdominal surgery and comes with its own set of risks , although I think what suits you best is going to be the way that reduces you stress most.

Hope some of this is useful.

Out of 15 hours of pain, epidural helped with only 6 hours. For 3 hours at the end especially it was still agonizing.
yes I had an instrumental delivery
yes massive lacerations and lots of stitches, though I believe these were due to the incompetence of the doctor, not because of epidural-

I had an epidural after 30 hours of labour, it was GREAT! it calmed me down and let my cervix swelling go down so i could start pushing again and after 2.5 hours pushing i had episiotomy and forceps delivery or a 9lb12 girl.
Im 29+3 weeks at the mo with my second baby, which is (according to midwife) already at least 9lb. I want to try birth with out epidural this time but i bet i will change my mind as soon as that 1st contraction hits!

Epidural with first. G&A with second and third.

No it didn't make childbirth less frightening, except in so far as once I'd had it I had continuous support from the midwife, who up until I'd had the epidural hadn't spent much time with me.

Yes - had a forceps birth. The risk of assisted birth with epidural is much higher for first time mums - less so for you.

Yes - large episiotomy and lots of stitches.

No stitches with either of my two unmedicated births and much quicker recovery - despite third labour being epic, longer than my first (which was also very, very long)

I wouldn't have coped with my third without an epidural if I hadn't been at home with an independent midwife and a friend acting as doula. They made the birth do-able for me, plus being in my own home made it much less scary and more comfortable.

Sorry - memory has just come back of me walking up the stairs at home with my brother behind me rubbing my back. I was 8cm dilated and it was day 2 of the labour (had been in established labour since 5am the previous day). My brother was astonished that I was still able to function at that point in my labour, and was still eating cereal bars. I would have been climbing the walls if I'd been in hospital. Just being able to get into my own bath, weep into my own pillows and hobble up and down the road in an attempt to move the labour along made such a huge difference to my perception of the pain.

Yes had epidural. Didn't hurt one bit going in. I felt so much better afterwards, more relaxed and much happier. Could feel contractions, like a tightening sensation, no pain, bliss!

Did end up having emergency c section, due to mal presentation, not the epidural.

I had one (was induced with DS, had epidural after 4 hours of back to back contractions) - brought blessed relief BUT did cause me to have a temperature (so they started me on IV antibiotics), did need to be on continuous fetal monitor (but was induced anyway so had to be), meant I couldnt feel to push baby out so had second degree tear (midwife had me on my back in stirrups) and had shuddering back pains afterwards which were apparently due to the epidural. Other than that was fine.

Pregnant again - plan (as long as I dont get induced again) is to avoid epi this time...

I had an epi for DS (my first & only so far)

1. did it make childbirth less frightening?

No - I felt vulnerable and trapped as I couldn't move at all. I am not a small person and I took several members of staff to manouver me into a more upright position when I said I was uncomfortable...but I was still uncomfortable and it caused such a fuss to move me that I didn't feel able to ask again. Also the food I had to pratically beg for kept being put out of my reach so I didn't get to eat it.

When it came to actually give birth I couldn't feel anything at all apart from DS pushing on my ribs so had to be told when to push. I had no idea if I was actually pushing at all and still don't really feel I have actually given birth.

1. did you have assisted delivery?

No I pushed him out on my own, although it took a long time because I couldn't feel anything - 2.5 hours, which was exhausting. and they cut me (which I really didn't want and put them off as much as I could) because I wasn't stretching enough.

Everyone kept saying how well I had done to have a normal delivery after the transfer from home, waters being broken, drip put up, epi for so long, 50+ hour labour etc etc...didn't feel very 'normal' to me .

It took 5 hours for the epi to wear off sufficiently for me to go up to the post-natal ward. They kept me in to check there wasn't any problems from the epi (standard procedure)...then they completely mucked up bfing with their useless 'support'. I eventually escaped 6 days after DS was born and it took several months of HARD work and the support of my local LLL group to get bfing going again.

1. did you have stitches?

Yes, 3 from the cut they did. Might not seem much but they stitched me up too tight and sex is painful (for both DH & me) in certain positions. DH actually ripped his frenulum and needed a repair op because of this .

I will NEVER be having an epi ever again.

I had the epidural as part of an emergency caesarian, so knowing that they were getting on saving ds's life definitely made things less frightening. I knew there might be problems, wasn't surprised when there were and was relieved when they reacted swiftly.

I did not find the epidural itself unpleasant or scary as I thought I might. And a great relief to have a catheter in afterwards so I could lie in bed drinking lots of lovely cool drinks without worrying about having to haul myself to the loo whimpering with pain (as in my first, drug-free vaginal delivery).

1. did it make childbirth less frightening?
2. did you have assisted delivery?
3. did you have stitches?

1. Definitely.
2. Nope
3. Yes, but am in Italy and it was done par for the course, they didn't even tell me!

Would definitely have another, I had a mobile one, could move around, go to the loo, do what I wanted. No after effects.

I had an epidural for first baby (14 hour labour 8lb 7 1/2 oz) which got stuck trying to come out sideways.Keelands forceps.
I think in this case it was necessary as I was getting tired and they needed to really do a big cut to get her out. (don't be scared they know what they're doing)

With the second (similar weight) I took castor oil (don't do this!)And she came out in an hour and a half with no epidural as there wasn't time.This one also got stuck but Princess Anne's in Southampton are fab. and managed to get her shoulders out manually without forceps.

Epidurals are fine. I don't recommend Pethadine- it slows everything down and makes you cry.
Also don't take castor oil it works but not in a good way.

I had an epidural and it made my blood pressure plummet to the point where I was unconscious for 15 minutes. I ended up with episiotomy, stitches and ventouse. It was dreadful. I also got lasting nerve damage in my legs. BUT my epidural was kind of an emergency one and it was done by someone very inexperienced, who took several attempts to site it correctly and then gave me too high a dose and didn't put a saline drip in beforehand even though I was dehydrated (hence the blood pressure drop). So it was a very extreme case and not very common I would imagine.

I would not have one again, in fact with DS2 I had no pain relief, a home birth in water and it was fab. Honestly not painful except crowning.

My waters broke, and I was labouring away like a good 'un for 14 hrs, but I still wouldn't bloody dilate properly! So they decided I needed to be speeded up with pitocin and by that stage I had enough and was climbing the walls and asked for an epidural.

I had a "mobile" epidural, so you could you still feel contractions and move about. It definitely took the edge off and made me less frightened, as I was getting a bit frazzled. After 24 hours, I was still only about 5cm dilated, so ended up with a c-section. No, it wasn't how I planned it, but I had a healthy baby at the end, and that is what I focused on and it helped me to think of it like that. And it wasn't a scary experience for me.

Hope it all goes well for you.

Had epidural, as couldnt take the pain of the drip on being induced. Regretted it instantly as i couldnt move, ended up with section etc. Although that was probably the fault of the induction process rather than epidural. Personally i just LOVED gas and air and anything that would part me with my beloved mouthpiece was only a bad thing....

Pre-arranged and had mobile epi for first birth. Very long birth and slow to progress, so they suggested synotocin and I insisted on the epidural at the same time. With synotocin plus epidural the labour finally progressed and 4 hours later I had my son with NO TEARING !! or intervention at all. So very happy with it.

However, the downside of the low dose epi is that not all the pain goes away. For me it was a balancing act between retaining sensation and getting the pain under control. I still had a fair amount of pain from contractions on one side where it hadn't worked (enough to be mooing and crying with pain and feeling totally out of it for the last couple of hours). However all lower bits were numbed so I didn't feel any pain on baby coming out, just felt the movement of him coming out, and also didn't tear at all, as he came out gently. That part was really great and easy. However I was pushing effectively, I just couldn't feel it. I could feel my legs etc and move around as it was low dose/mobile epi, also called CSE. One proviso was that make sure the bloody tube is long enough for you to move around, that really annoyed me as I could only just get on my hands and knees, the tube wouldn't have allowed me to go any further away.

I can't tell how much of the total pain it took away, I estimate only 50% of the contractions pain, and 90% of the pushing/crowning pain.

I'm planning homebirth for second and actually quite worried about how painful it will be, but mobile epi not available here in Holland and scared of having the old fashioned epi.

In summary: if you want real proper pain relief go for normal epi and get them to switch it off towards the end so you will push ok, and a mobile epi is a good compromise (they can turn it up more if you need it). As it's your third I wouldn't worry about intervention risk, I think your body will just push it out. best of luck!

1. did it make childbirth less frightening? once the epidural was working, it was less frightening (the needle going in and not moving during this even if having a contraction was frightening)
2. did you have assisted delivery? Yes - ventouse. After 30 hours of labour, my contractions stopped, so they had to intervene.
3. did you have stitches? Yes, but couldn't feel these and didn't have any pain killers afterwards - didn't feel the need.

I was totally numb during the birth itself and couldn't feel anything (birth was about 7 hours after epi). Up in stirrups for the birth (what I said I never wanted, but hey ho). But, I was walking about 4 hours after birth.

Was great in that the birth itself was incredibly relaxed - I was pushing and DS was practically there, if my contractions hadn't stopped, I could have got there without ventouse. I was giggling and having a normal conversation in between contractions (I was being told to push).

In hindsight, I wish I hadn't had an epidural, but at the time, I was incredibly relieved to have it.

Very straight forward for me. Arrived with 1st baby all ready 6cm, had epidural then and there. Not painful as contractions much worse.

I did have vontous but this was planned (to avoiding prolonged pushing and damaging pelvic floor) and had a few stiches. Felt no pain at all.

Felt legs very quickly afterwards, infact walked to the bathroom, much to horror of MW!

I also think I really helped with the after pain etc.

Will be having one next time!

I had an epidural with dd - after about 5 hours of induced labour my contractions slowed and they gave me some syntocinon. The mw told me I'd need an epidural, and I was pretty tired by then, so agreed. 'Twas rubbish - only worked on one side, then was topped up so massively I couldn't move, but I still had quite a lot of pain all down my right hip. And I ended up with a c-section which I think was in large part because of the epidural. So, to answer your questions:

1. no
2. yes
3. n/a

I had pethidine at the start when they put the gel in - had absolutely no effect on me whatsoever except to make me feel a bit sick.

Heavy duty pain relief is highly overrated, imo. Gas and air and a TENS machine did the trick with ds 2 years later - much better.

i had a brilliant experience with an epidural.

had very fast and furious first birth experience - 4 hours in all.

dilated very quickly from first contractions to 4cm and was vomiting and out of it from pain.

once i had the epidural (a "walking epidural") I was able to communicate once again, had something to drink and a biscuit, called all my family and friends to say "I'm in labour!" it made it much less frightening.

it wore off pretty quick but I had dilated to 10cm and was ready to push. could feel the need to push and used all my might to get my 7lb daughter out in 14mins. two tiny stiches on each side.

walked out of the labour room a couple of hours later.

good luck whatever you decide!

I had a fantastic experience with everything - epidural and birth. Went into labour past midnight and by 3am it was all over. The actual delivery itself took probably 15mins and 3 pushes. You definitely feel the pressure and the baby's head descending and just have to push when told. I did have an episiotomy but it took a short while to heal and so far things have been great - not sure what the negative effects of having stitches is other than the slight discomfort initially. I had absolutely so side effects from the epidural and after a couple of hours of sleep, was up and about! Good luck with everything:-)

I'm afraid epidurals aren't there for the asking. If it's a busy night you might have to wait a looong time for one.

I waited 6 hours and got from 2cm-8cm all the while asking. At 8cm they got me one but wouldn't allow it because it was too late.

Pethedine isn't pain relief imo. It just disorientates you so you get the pain but aren't with it to realise there is gonna be another one soon, so possibly reduces the fear, if you're not scared at being confused.

Gas and air didn't do much for me either.

However, what did work was hiring a trainee doula for the 2nd time! She managed to take away around 80% of the pain, and 99% of the fear.

I had an epidural with DD1, but not with DD2. The answers to your questions would be-

1. No, still very frightening
2. Yes, ventouse
3. Yes, a very large episiotomy

But the reason why I had the epidural was because DD2 was completely stuck and all the active labouring, pushing in lots of different positions, opening up my pelvis etc. had completely failed to budge her. So the complications caused the epidural, rather than the other way around.

For DD2, I managed to shift her from my (obviously far-too-comfy!) uterus. So I didn't need any pain relief.

I had pethidine for DD1 as well (much early in the labour) and found that it completely knocked me out. This was actually a good thing as I'd been in early labour for a long time and not been able to sleep, so the rest did me a lot of good. The trouble with pethidine though is that you don't know if you'll react well until they've given it to you. You can ask for only a half dose though (which is what I had).

don't mean to hijack but, mrs tittlemouse, did you find the pain of no epidural scary or shocking? Because I'm going 'natural' for second one and had epi for first (albeit mobile epi that didn't work that well), and worried about the vastly increased pain!

Haven't read all the posts so sorry if repeating...

There are risks with epidurals so consider it carefully. I had one (was a failed induction resulting in a em cs). It worked really well but I hated not being able to move around, which IMHO probably contributed to the whole thing going wrong.