Epidural: Pros and Cons

[Somosagirl]

Please enlighten me. I've heard plenty of wives tales about both scenarios.

Pros: it hurts less

Cons: they don’t always work. There are associated risks. You have to stay in for at least 12 hours postnatally before being discharged. It increases your risk of an instrumental delivery.

Equally, I think if you reach a point where you want an epidural, you then care significantly less about the risks/cons because you just want the pain to stop

For me the pros were that I could take a short snooze and rest before pushing after a long induction meaning my pushes were a lot more effective.

The cons were that I couldn’t move about. While I should have been able to go on all fours, one of my legs went completely numb and I couldn’t move it at all so I was stuck on my back. I also couldn’t feel the contractions enough to push without guidance.

I was way beyond caring about the pros and cons when I got an epidural. My husband says that I repeatedly told the anaesthesiologist how much I loved him.

Pros, I didn't feel a thing and slept/read magazines/ate snacks up until successfully pushing out my 9lb7 back to back baby.

Pregnant again and will be having another.

Google 'NHS epidural risks' for cons from NHS so a reliable source, also very slightly increased risk for instrumental delivery which it doesn't mention as not labour specific.

Pros: went from feeling like I would die from pain to feeling like I might not die from pain.

Pros- it stops the pain.
Cons- none.
IME.

I was past the point of vaginal delivery, had been in labour too long, the epidural was a blessed relief. It's the best form of pain relief!

A lot of people will tell you it increases the risk of an instrumental delivery, but this now seems to be a bit of a myth. There is a correlation, but not necessarily a causation. It's likely that more difficult births are more likely to make a mother request an epidural, and also more likely to end in forceps/ventouse. The latter isn't necessarily caused by the former.

I had one and would recommend.

I had an epidural with my first and absolutely nothing with my second. We had an unplanned home birth on Friday, we couldn’t make it to hospital in time so my partner delivered the baby before the paramedics arrived!
I can’t believe how quickly I’ve started to recover this time, with the epidural I couldn’t feel my legs so relied on the midwives to pass me the baby. My daughter was also extremely dopey, she slept all night. It seemed to take days to feel okay again.
This time around I’ve been mobile throughout, even when we got to hospital for my stitches I was up and about having a shower and tending to my baby. I feel a lot more ‘with it’ this time around, considering how much pain I was in giving birth!

I had an epidural third time around - amazing as it cut off the pain and was at exactly the right level so I was able to stay mobile (delivered upright facing forwards towards the head of the bed), and recovered just as fast as with my G and A deliveries. They aren’t all like that, but just to say it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t be mobile.

@Pinkrose19

I had an epidural with my first and absolutely nothing with my second. We had an unplanned home birth on Friday, we couldn’t make it to hospital in time so my partner delivered the baby before the paramedics arrived! I can’t believe how quickly I’ve started to recover this time, with the epidural I couldn’t feel my legs so relied on the midwives to pass me the baby. My daughter was also extremely dopey, she slept all night. It seemed to take days to feel okay again. This time around I’ve been mobile throughout, even when we got to hospital for my stitches I was up and about having a shower and tending to my baby. I feel a lot more ‘with it’ this time around, considering how much pain I was in giving birth!

Congratulations! I agree with this completely, had my second three weeks ago.

First time, I had an epidural. It was amazing as it was 12 hours before I needed to push so I snoozed a lot and there was definitely less pain. However, I couldn't move during Labour. My recovery was long and I had a catheter in for two weeks! I couldn't walk properly for about three weeks.

Second time, I begged for an epidural but it was too late. Baby shot out about 10 mins later. Recovery has felt so much easier. I was able to play with my toddler on the floor instantly and look after myself this time rather than rely on my husband for a lot. I definitely preferred this time but I was in agony during and thought I'd die. However, the moment baby was out, I felt almost good!

If it is your first baby, I would strongly consider the epidural especially if you are induced. First labours can be very long. Good luck