G&A in the USA . . .

[spongebrainmaternitypants]

Just being emailing a friend in the States (English but lives in America) who is due to give birth in 2 weks or so and was asking me for tips , entirely the wrong person to ask !

But she said that G&A is illegal in the States!

Does anyone know why? I knew birth over there was higly-medicalised and often ends in c-section but why on earth don't they allow such a basic pain relief?

Just interested really . . .

I heard they didn't have it but illegal wow. Wonder why

Bump - anyone know? Two curious posters now!

No idea but bumping as have good friend and sil due to give birth over there in next few months.

G&A isn't used in many parts of the world, not in Belgium, France or Holland, but I thought they used it in America.

Hmm, is she winding me up?! She's not usually prone to doing that kind of thing though .

Maybe different States have different rules?

Any Americans out there, can she some light?

It's not illegal, but yep, it's very, VERY hard to come by. There's one guy who uses it in San Francisco that I know of.

I'm in Southern California and had a BIG argument with an obstetrician about this last year. She said that G&A was ridiculous and counter-productive. Her reasoning was that it relaxes the uterus and you want the uterus to be contracting, not relaxing. I asked what would happen if I found myself some nitrous. It's very common here at dentists, for example. She said I wouldn't get any of the obstetrics staff to prescribe or use it because they weren't trained in it.

I arrived in the US six months pregnant and was really, really upset when I heard this.

The C-Section rate in my area is close to 50 percent and I desperately wanted another VBAC. It was one of the big pushes for me in getting a home birth. At least I could have TENS and a water pool at home.

Thanks Carmen, that's really interesting.

No wonder their c section rate is so high .

I don't think it exists in the US. They put it down as 'laughing gas', but what we have in the UK is not the same as the pure nitrous oxide used by dentists.

FWIW, I had a baby in the US without acces to G&A. I was worried about that beforehand, but at the time, it wasn't a problem. Because it wasn't available, I just coped on my own.

In the US, it is all or nothing (full-monty epidural vs no chemical help at all). I equipped myself to cope with the pain in non-medical ways - eg by not becoming 'a patient', using relaxation techniques etc.

I think this is how my friend is approaching it scienceteacher, problem is you just don't know how you'll cope til it actually happens and to go from, "finding it a bit hard" to an epidural seems such a huge leap.

Don't paramedic crews use it in ambulances? Or is it just for childbirth it's considered inappropriate. I had cs for ds so I have no idea how important it is for birth, however I would never have survived being strapped to a back board after a car accident if I hadn't been sucking down the G&A like a loon.

Good point HF, never needed it for an injury but know plenty of people who have - maybe the Yanks are just made of sterner stuff?!

(Do they have strips of leather in their ambulances that they bite on instead - or is that just for the ones without medical insurance? )

Out west they bite on a bullet Maybe you only get the G&A if you can produce your credit card there and then, otherwise it's the leather strap for you!

I asked a paramedic friend and he said it's morphine or nothing if you're in an accident.

Sadly, I think the way insurance works here is to blame - they only approve certain drugs. And there's an interest in promoting heavier drugs.

It's a shame - one would think there is a big market for Entonox here.

Personally, I found facing labour without g&a terrifying, and if I did it again, I'd like to know it was an option. But that said, I did feel more in control this time round and felt very able to concentrate on the contractions - but it was very hard mental work, as well as physical. G&a takes you off the planet a bit, which is nice!

TENS is a godsend imo, though I know it doesn't seem to work for everyone.

How odd, surely G&A is better as it doesn't remain in your system, as soon as you stop sucking it down it's effects wear off straight away. Morphine has so many other side effects and influences your body for so much longer.