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Childbirth

usefulness of gas n air?

64 replies

damdaffs · 12/03/2009 10:01

hi!

i wonder if i'm the only person who found entonox useless in labour? i found it had no pain relieving quality at all.

i keep reading of people who get quite high on it and feel 'out of control' and i just cant help wondering if the supply was faulty with me and i was just breathing regular-type air...thoughts anyone??

OP posts:
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duchesse · 12/03/2009 12:26

Nope, definitely not alone. I couldn't even be bothered with it in my last labour (HB). I just found it annoying and distracting and it certainly did nothing to reduce pain. So I had a completely pain relief free labour that time.

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duchesse · 12/03/2009 12:28

I've thought about this and wondered whether it's due to the fact that all the pain I get in labour seems to come from my cervix. I don't seem to feel pain from the actual contractions apart from there. Which may explain why the TENS didn't work for me either.

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gigglewitch · 12/03/2009 12:32

various - different with each dc. (ok so sorry if i'm confusing you now)
ds1 - I couldn't get the hang of it and didn't breathe it in soon enough, as I didn't feel the start of my contractions ...therefore it didn't work.
ds2 - had it for a few minutes - short labour, no time, 30 mins in hosp before he was born, just used it a few minutes before the delivery when we were trying to stop me pushing him out too fast
dd (#3) - fantastic

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trixymalixy · 12/03/2009 12:38

I loved it!!

It was the only pain relief I had. I think I just breathed through the tube constatntly rather than just for the contractions though and wouldn't let them take it away!!!

I was totally spaced out on it.

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stleger · 12/03/2009 12:41

I loved it and found the mask better than the mouthpiece for total bliss!

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chequersmate · 12/03/2009 12:51

Crap.

Apart from when I was using it as the epidural was kicking in, then it was marvellous, but not for pain relief reasons

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CherryChoc · 12/03/2009 12:54

I found it really good, OTOH I hated my TENS machine and thought that it was a complete waste of money.

They said I could have it back for the stitches but then it never got given back to me I was holding DS and was scared I would squash him or grip him too hard! Stitches were the worst part for me I think.

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christywhisty · 12/03/2009 13:22

Made me throw up both times after one puff, so no use to me whatsoever.

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Botbot · 12/03/2009 13:24

christywhisty, same here.

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Horton · 12/03/2009 13:45

I thought it was great. I did throw up but then I was throwing up before I had a whiff of gas and air so I'm not convinced that it was actually the G&A that made me throw up. The first few puffs made me feel v v peculiar but once I'd got the hang of it, it really helped a lot and also cheered me up. I didn't have any other pain relief so it must have worked!

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Ernestina · 12/03/2009 13:49

I loved it but it didn't relieve the pain, just made me feel light headed. I got really good at timing the peak of lightheadedness with the peak of the contraction! A really useful skill

Used it for stitches too but it was pretty rubbish for that - I still ended up swearing at the evil witch doctor who didn't use remotely enough local anaesthetic.

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dinkystinky · 12/03/2009 14:09

Damdaffs - it was no good for me either; in fact it made me feel sick when I was in labour with DS1 so refused it entirely when offered it for stitches post DS2's birth....

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ScrummyYummyMummy · 12/03/2009 15:34

I thought it was rubbish too. I tried some Pethadine, which was also pretty rubbish then settled on an epidural...bliss!

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idobelieveinfairies · 12/03/2009 15:41

I found it great...i had just G&A for labours 1, 2 and 3..had it all for 4th and c-secs for the next two.

I was sick with it until my body got used to it but that is normal.

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MrsMerryHenry · 12/03/2009 15:43

I don't think it's meant to relieve pain, is it? I always thought it was supposed to distract you from the pain and thereby help you cope with it much better.

Worked brilliantly for me. Great fun!

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SnowlightMcKenzie · 12/03/2009 19:22

No, but I realised when using it for stitches that it DOES work, but I need to suck on it for a long time before it begins to help, and contractions every 3 minutes and not being allowed it in between meant that I never got anywhere near enough in my system for it to have any effect.

Didn't notice the effect of pethedine either. Total waste of space that was.

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PrettySprinkles · 12/03/2009 21:20

OMG I loved Gas and Air, wish I could have some in the house for when I want to relax. This time I had an unexpected fast birth at home with no pain relief and thought I'd missed my G&A chance but got some for when I had stitches

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NormaJeanBaker · 12/03/2009 21:23

Made me throw up so had nothing instead. Disappointing since my husband had raved about gas he'd had at the dentist and was looking forward to it.

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violethill · 12/03/2009 21:26

I think the people who find it disappointing are the people who expect it to provide pain relief. It doesn't actually stop the pain at all. It works by altering your perception of the pain- hence the spaced out feeling.

If you want to do labour without pain, then you need to go the epidural route. Other forms of pain relief will have varying effects, but they won't block it.

I find G and A brilliant BTW, and used just that for my first and third babies. I think it depends a lot on your expectation.

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mejon · 12/03/2009 21:33

It had no effect on me during labour but it was absolutely fab whilst I was being stiched up afterwards. I was totally flying then . I had pethidine too and didn't feel that it had any effect either apart from giving me an extremely painful thigh for days afterwards.

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Chellesgirl · 12/03/2009 21:37

I had no pain relief during labour, and found the pain easy to cope with. But I did have it for the stitches as I hate needles and needed the 'spaced' out feeling - Fuck did it work! I would give birth to ten babies in a row with no pain relief, than have those stitches again.

Antenox did feck all for me.

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sadminster · 12/03/2009 22:17

Well I didn't expect it to do anything - nor did I want it - a student midwife shoved the mouthpiece in my mouth 10 seconds after walking into the room. Think she must've just 'forgotten' to ask me if I wanted it, just like she forgot to introduce herself and failed to appreciate that pushing me (forceful shove in the back) onto a birth ball was assault

The diamorphine pump on the other hand did a wonderful job when I was labouring with my (dead) son.

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SnowlightMcKenzie · 13/03/2009 13:53

violet, it didn't even make me feel spaced out, and neither did the pethedine. I was sooo frightened, tense and in pain I fought the drugs as well as the contractions.

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Ohforfoxsake · 13/03/2009 13:55

I remember saying

"Its like being really, really, REALLY stoned, and then straightening up really, REALLY quickly. Its brilliant."

HTH

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mosschops30 · 13/03/2009 14:00

Oh I loved it, couldnt get enough, i remember the pipe kept coming off the mask and I would go crazy until it was reconnected as if it was my main oxygen supply

Its the one thing Im looking forward too in labour is shit loads of gas and air

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