Midwives say women should pay for epidurals

[TheDullWitch]

At least £500 a baby it says here

Quite, Wharfrat. How dare anyone spout on about who 'needs' pain relief and who doesn't? No-one knows but the woman herself when she's going through it. At no point with my first baby did I think "At least if I peg it now the bloody pain will stop" but I did with my second. I understand that ideally pregnant women should be given all the relevant facts about risks associated etc beforehand but this does make me .

In your case wharfrat, they ignored research which indicates that pain after being induced is much greater than "normal" labour pain. If they're going to induce (a medical procedure) then they should expect to give hte appropriate medical pain relief.

Lucysmum - it's not just in Japan or other parts of Europe. Our local midwife-led delivery unit doesn't offer epidurals unless there are very extreme circumstances, and that's that. The births are fantastically well managed, and all other forms of pain relief are offered as are birthing pools etc.

This suggestion is absolutely outrageous. I can understand that thye may have concerns that some women turn up in hospital after 2 contractions with 24 hours to go and say they want an epidural. Well, there's an easy solution to that, they only give them one when they need it - later on. It seems unlikely that at that stage, they need one. However, it is dangerous to generalise and even in these circumstances there may be women who need one to stabilise their mental health if they are very frightened. It may be that these women are those who have been persuaded not to have an elective caesarian and need all the help they can get to get through a vaginal delivery.

I had to have an syntocinon drip and had been in labour for over 48 hours when the drip was put in. After a few hours I had had enough and asked for an epidural. This followed my being sure right through the pregnancy that I would not have one regardless, that I would manage with yoga, gas and air and a TENS machine and that it was bonkers to have an injection in my spine. Well it didn't work out that way because my body wasn't having it...and that was after taking raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose, homepathic remedies - anything at all to make labour easier. It would have been pretty horrifying if I had been denied an epidural, having made the decision I needed one. I did have a forceps delivery but I don't think it had anything to do with the epidural as I could feel to push.

What is medical need anyway? I thought pain relief is a medical need? Does this mean that you won't have injections for fillings anymore because you should not have got cavities anyway?

The RCM is going to make itself very very unpopular about this - even the NCT has spoken out against this idea. Why should women suffer pain at childbirth? Because it's natural - well it used to be natural for a large proportion of women (and babies) to die in childbirth too. Shall we go back to that?

And I have not even mentioned the unfairness of letting rich women have one and poor women not.

It is a totally outrageous idea.

Off on a tangent here but I worked with this guy who told me that whenever his wife was in hospital having babies he always wore a suit. He is sure that he and his wife got treated with more respect as a result. He was quite posh as well so I suppose that helped. There were times apparently he was mistaken for the consultant.

SAd isn't it that people feel the need to play games.

I had 2 - but wouldn't pay - outrageous!

Some terminal illneses are also very painful. But since death is also a natural life process, like birth, does that mean those who are in pain from them should also have to pay for pain relief they consider adequate?

how interesting drosophila. How often does his wife have kids? sounds like a regular occurence!

Aren't they suggesting it as a way of making people think twice about having an epidural?

I'm so squeamish prefer pain over needles any day.

Expat, my dh has a chronic illness characterised by pain and I can assure you he takes a cocktail of medication that would kill a normal person. (I am literally not joking). Surely this pain should be a 'cleansing' process for him and what Mother Nature intended? Mother Nature my aunt fanny, to put it politely. I have never seen anyone else deal with so much pain and if anyone said to me "he needs to endure this or you will have to pay 500 smackers" I would be very VERY tempted to just kill them (or him). I mean that.

Dinny, why should people think twice about having an epidural?

My point exactly, tripot. Pain relief is a medical necessity, be it from birth, death or having a filling.

In honesty anyone who thinks a needle is worse than the pain relief an epidural brings, has never been in enough pain to warrant an epidural.

Oh Trib. Motherhood has made you violent.

because of the cascade of intervention, as they call it, Uwila.

exactly uwila

time marches on, progress is made, we take advantage of it surely?

so does giving birth hurt some people more than others? it's all relative, isn't it?

but, yes, I have been in pain, esp when delivering ds, who was huge and got stuck.

In long labours an epidural can give you a break from the pain so you can gather strenght for the later stages of labour.

But Dinny, I don't think we are all convinced that epidurals are to blame for a "cascade of intervention". I think that demonstrates a correlation, not a cause and effect. But, even if the epidural was to blame, so what? I mean if I am okay with those risks, then why shouldn't I have the right to choose that route.

Personally, I now prefer to go straight for intervention. But the very least I would ever consider is an epidural.

FM, the mw I was listening today said that would be an instance in which an epidural would be medically indicated. and for back-to-back labours too, she said.

then (from what I head today) the RCM would say that's fine, Uwila.

also, it's not me saying epidurals result in intervention, it's the RCM.

Strange - but this is all quite relevant to me..

Just had my fifth baby last week and my first epidural !

I was very very scared and went into labour very quickly and painfully....

I screamed for and got an excellent epidural and swore i would spread the word about how fabulous they are - I would advise my sister and daughter to forgoe the agonies of labour in favour of this gentler experience...anyway I digress...

In the midst of the epidural being administered my Midwife - a more mature woman - said to me ' You have earned this you have been cheap so far'
It would never have crossed my mind till that moment !

Dinny, I'm just saying that there are different philosophies in childbirth. Some people believe in a medicalised approch. Some believe in a strictly natural approach. Both choices should be valid and available to all (depending on circumstances of course).

yep, it's down to money saving, isn't it?

but they need to provide better midwife care to support natural labour in that case.