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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

To Epidural or not to Epidural

69 replies

Holymoly321 · 15/08/2005 16:06

Hi all, I'm now six weeks away from the big event and am confused about whether or not to have an epidural. I'm not keen on pain, and I have no qualms about not having a totally 'natural' birth - i just want to get the baby out! What are the pro's and con's of epidurals? What have people's experiences been? Would you recommend them - do you wish you'd had one? Did it mean that you had a tear or bigger tear etc etc? Any advice would be most gratefully recieved!

OP posts:

mummyhill · 16/08/2005 10:38

I had an epidural first time round and although it was fairly horendous at the time it was the best thing i did. DD was back to back and that was agony. Am due to drop in 21 days time and will go for one again if the pain gets too much.

Pesha - thank god I am not the only one who felt like punching the anethestist mine was shouting at me and telling me off like i was a school kids cause I found it difficut to stay still as I too was in the middle of a particularly bad contraction, spaced on pethedine and the gas and air and painicing cause i could not breath properly. DH said he would of punched him but he was too worried about me as I had allready been in labour for 23 hours at this point. After he finally got the epidural in i managed to get some sleep and baby was born 8 hours later.

mummyhill · 16/08/2005 10:39

Ohh and yes they do pop in a catheter if you have an epidural as you cannot control bladder and they don't want you to pee all over the floor.

FairyMum · 16/08/2005 10:43

I once gave birth only using gas&air, but that was what I would call a textbook relatively easy birth. It was painful, but as I was only in labour 12 hours I could take the pain. My other birth, I was induced and had a looooong and very painful labour. Again I tried without an epidural, but in the end I was so exchausted I had to have one. It ended in an emergency c-section. Looking back I don't think I would have been able to push anyway as I was too tired. IMO an epirudal is great to manage labour. It can give you a much needed break so you have energy left to push. It's not just about pains. It depends a lot on the lenght of labour. I think you should be open minded as you don't know what kind of labour you will have. I never felt the epidural being given although he had to do it 3 times. I was far too "out of it" at that stage.

clary · 16/08/2005 10:56

Great post Mears as ever.

pesha · 16/08/2005 11:45

Thought he had a bit of a nerve getting impatient with me having a contraction for a few minutes when we'd been waiting over an hour for him to turn up! And then poking my leg after saying can you feel this me saying yes him saying hmm i dont think you can!! FFS!

The whole thing was absolute nightmare but 2nd time was no problem, still hurt like hell but somehow didnt affect me so much, was much quicker too only 18 hrs from 1st pain to ds popping out with the waters. Actually that bit was a bit scary. But still would love to do it all again

Satine · 16/08/2005 12:08

I had a fantastic experience with an epidural - my dd was back to back and I had turned into a complete banshee with the pain until the epidural - it was like turning the pain volume from 11 to 1 in a second. BLISS. It was v finely done so I could feel everything but the pain and the second dd was born, they switched the drip off and all the feeling came back. Didn't have to stay in bed or anything afterwards. I think I've had all my babies now but if I ever had another one I would definitely have an epidural, with no hesitation whatsoever.

lovecloud · 16/08/2005 12:42

Hello

When I went into labour i was shocked at the pain as I consider myself to have quite a high pain threshold (my friend who had two totally natural and fast labours winces at even the slightest pain done it so i thought if she can i definitley can...) - oh no! I was wrong!
Like you will hear everyone say, every labour is different and you cant compare with anyone else's pain so the best thing to do is exactly what you are doing, find out asmuch as you can and just see what happens and how you feel at that time.
i asked for an epidural after being in labour for a few hours. the nurse first offered me pethidine which i was not sure about as i heard people sayin g it made them sick etc. But I had it and it worked great for me, did not get rid of the pain but made me lose track of time, a few hours later when I was more with i was told that I would be pushing soon and i was fine, i just totally forgot about the epidural. i am glad i could feel her coming out as I felt in total control and i pushed when i was told and had no tears. my dd was strangled by the umbliical cord and was stuck, i finally got her out after two hours. i reckon if i had the epidural i would of had to of had intervention if some kind which i was most frightened about. with my next birth i hope it will be shorter and i will not have an epidural but i would use pethidine again but not too close to labour.
good luck

mogwai · 16/08/2005 16:22

incidentally, I didn't have a catheter with my epidural, I got off the bed and sat on a commode when I needed a wee, though the second epidural was stronger and I couldn't have done that - the midwife drained my bladder just before I got to the pushing stage.

Also - I did think I would get a nice kip once the epi was in place - but the bloodpressure cuff blowing my arm up like a sausage every 15 minutes kind off kept me awake ...surely they could invent something better? It was distracting me from "celebrity spotted" in Heat

pesha · 16/08/2005 17:08

I remember arguing with the midwife saying i needed a wee and she said no its just your waters dear and i said no i really need a wee and she kept on saying no you dont but eventually agreed to sit me up on a bed pan just to shut me up i think and then said oh you did need a wee didnt you, yes i bloody did with an 8lb baby trying to push its way past my bladder!! But really couldnt tell you if that was before or after epidural, whole thing is such a blur.

Ulysees · 16/08/2005 20:45

Smiling, has any of this helped then?

Tumblemum · 16/08/2005 21:27

i had one with a back to back labour and a second stage that was not going anywhere fast, i was exhausted and could no longer cope with the pain the epidural meant that I could sit down or lie down for the first time in over 30 hours, i went to sleep between contractions, it was bliss to be able to rest, my baby had an assisted birth but not because of the epidural but because of baby position and that contractions were not pushing my baby out
i got completely sucked in by the natual birth thing which is fine up to a point, but thank god for epidurals

XmariaX · 16/08/2005 22:30

i had a epidural with both dd's with the first labour it was wonderful it took every last ounce of pain away and i didnt feel a thing apart from half an hour when it had worn off but i soon had it topped up and was fine. But with the second it was a very different story as it didnt take away the pain at all and then left me with a very bad headache for ages and with a bad back where it had been put in for days afterwards and generally felt like crap

Original poster

Holymoly321 · 17/08/2005 16:17

Hi all, wow - what a response! Thank you all so much for replying. Having taken some time to read through them all, I think I will keep an open mind, but won't hesitate to have an epidural the minute the pain becomes too much - I'm no martyr and there are no prizes for having a totally natural birth (and the thought of pain just like someone knawing your arm off with steel teeth is not really appealing!) Just as long as the baby is healthy that's all I care about really. Interestingly enough, have just come back from seeing the midwife who's told me that baby is breech - I know he could turn at any moment, but I've got to go back in a couple of weeks to check. If baby is still breech, will have to have a scan and see a consultant so could end up having to have a CS anyway. But I'll keep you updated! BUt many many many thanks again to all of you.

OP posts:

Eaney · 17/08/2005 16:29

HAd epi with my first. It was awful I had no feeling and couldn't push. Had to have forceps.

No pain relief with second and physicall I was mush better after.

If you do opt for epi make sure they monitir the dosage so that it wears off a little in time to push.

andif · 17/08/2005 19:37

Had epi with 2nd. My mistake was thinking that it was the ultimate solution to pain. It didn't work completely and left a patch on my left thigh unanaesthetised which doesn't sound much, but was complete agony at the time. Keep an open mind, but don't necessarily expect it to be the answer to a pain-free birth - I thought pethadine was much better!!!

Nickyfen · 17/08/2005 19:54

I went in hoping to have a birth as drug free as possible, however after gas and air AND pethidine, I was in so much pain I had to have an epidural as I don't think I could have continued (well that's how it felt) and to be honest I wish I'd gone in and just had the epidural straight away, as the gas and air and pethidine did nothing but make me throw up. Saying that though, next time I will still go in with an open mind, every birth is different, so maybe 2nd time it will be easier - good luck

mrsdarcy · 17/08/2005 20:39

I had one with my first labour and found it very effective for pain relief, but at the end when I was exhausted and had to push, it was hard to summon up that extra spurt of energy to push the baby out as I couldn't really feel much.

Having said that, with my two other children I have asked for an epidural but left it too late, so had to manage on just gas & air. So I guess an epi can't be that bad if I asked for it again!

I agree with others that keeping an open mind is sensible.

My DH (!) feels that the epi made the delivery much more difficult first time around and that I did much better on entonox! This is the man whose colds are diagnosed as "severe flu"

Good luck

mears · 18/08/2005 11:49

Here is something to consider.

Looked after lady yestarday who pushed baby out herslef first time round, fairly short labour with no epidural.

This time she opted for epidual early on in labour. Despite pushing for an hour, she just could not push her baby out herslef and had a forceps delivery. She was distraught that she was unable to do it herself.

So, something to consider is whether or not you would be disappointed if you needed medical help to get baby delivered. If so, then epidural is best avoided if all is normal.

matthewsmummy · 18/08/2005 14:39

hi smiling

i had my first baby 10 wks ago now (baby boy 7lb 11oz) im the same as you im not very good with pain and wasn't really worried about having a totally natural birth either. i went in open minded about pain relief so i wouldn't be dissapointed if i had to have anything.

i was induced as i was 12 days over my edd, i was started off at 8.30am and by 1pm i was having mild contractions, they went on for a while and i was coping well just breathing through them and i had a bath which eased the pain abit. but by around 11pm ish they were getting quite intense so i started using gas and air which helped for a short time but after being told i was only 5cm dilated i opted for an epidural at midnight. it took affect almost straight away and it was so lovely to be free of the pain. i managed to get some well needed sleep. i was examined at 3am and was about 8cm and then again at 5.30am and was fully dilated, through all of this i was completely numb from the chest down. i was quite scared of having the injection in my back but it was very easy and hardly hurt at all and by that time i was so uncomfortable that i didn't care.

my midwives got mw ready for threatre as soon as i mentioned epidural as it was my first and i think in alot of cases people do end up having some sort of intervention becuase it can slow labour down or because they are unable to push affectively due to the numbness.

this was not the case for me, i mangaged to push ds out in an hour and i never tore at all, and had no intervention. they were very surprised by this as it must not go that well most of the time.

so my experience was a good one but i do know thats not always the case and sometimes it can lead to alot of interventions and even a c sections for some woman.

i think you should just go in with an open mind and do whats best for you at the time. your body will let you know if your not coping well with the pain and then you can decided what pain relief will suit your situation. your midwives should also be able to advise you on whats best and tell you all the pro's and con's of all the types of pain relief.

well good luck and i hope the birth gose well. i hope you have a nice experience like mine and that baby arrives safely. take care xxx

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