Anyone had pethidine during labour?

[YouDoTheMath]

and if so what were your experiences of it? Would you recommend it?

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

i was in labour for over a day with DS (first baby) and getting quite exhausted (had tens, gas and air and pool up till then) so had pethidine at about 26 hours in. It didn't really help much with the actual pain of the contractions, which i still felt, but it seemed to help reduce the residual pain inbetween the waves, and allowed me to relax a bit and catch my breath again. I didn't feel out of it, i remember it all reasonably clearly. DS was born about 4 hours later.

sadly, no-one warned me it would make DS sleepy too. I was too knackered to really question anything, so when they took me down to the ward a few hours later and he was still sleepy and hadn't fed, they commented loudly that he was a "problem feeder" and that i "would need some supervision" with BF. talk about making a brand new mum feel utterly inadequate and overwhelmed! Struggled for hours to try to latch him on, with various HCPs shoving my boobs around, when he was still asleep!!

i am still about this, i am sure many of my problems with BF came from this initial issue, if someone had just said "he's sleepy, leave him be, he will feed when the drug is out of him and he wakes up, don't worry!" i would have felt so much more confident.

[YouDoTheMath]

Thanks all. Very mixed responses so I'll weigh them all up and think on it!

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

Bit late, but I'll add mine.

Had pethidine after 4 hours of labour when I was induced with DS2 as they thought I'd be doing it for at least another 4 or 5 hours (it was pretty intense). They slightly misjudged it and he was born fast asleep 20 minutes later (with no help, he bounced off the bed, but that's a different story...) I just felt really relaxed, he fed okay but slept for about 12 hours that night then made up for the lack of feeds the next day

I personally wouldn't (and didn't) bother with it again, however my Mum had it with all three of us and loved it. She slept through all our labours and just woke up in time to push us out.

[WinterLover]

I had it, Waters broke and contractions started at 7pm, by 10pm I was 2cm, 3am 5cm and at 3.45am they gave me it. DS was back to back and hadnt dropped fully yet my body was contracting him out They gave me it to try to save my energy. By 6.15am I was ready to push and he was here by 6.55am. I must admit it really did work, the only thing was that DS was very quiet for 24 hours after birth but we are not sure if that was the pethidine or the fact he was born at 36 weeks and severly jaundice.

[Raquel69]

Hi, had pethidine with second child and it made me sleepy and the baby sleepy. More effective than gas and air but does not take ALL the pain away like an epidural. Depends on your pain threshold.

[JulesJules]

Back to back labour here and I also had Diamorphine (same as Heroin) and it did absolutely nothing for me either except make me very very very itchy. Gas and air wasn't any help either, apart from giving you something to bite down on.

I do not think it has anything to do with "pain threshold", in fact I intensely dislike this phrase.

[Debs75]

I had pethidine with my first. I couldn't use the gas and air mask and didn't want an epi.
It was however totally shit and useless. It didn't take any edge off and i threw up after about 5 mins, that was the only benefit, 9 months of constant nausea expelled in 2 minutes. It left me feeling weak and drowsy. I agreed to an epi half an hour later but had to beg the anaesthetisist as my bloods were a bit dodgy.

[Imnotaslimjim]

I had it, though I didn't really want it. I'd stuck with G&A for 12 hours and thought I was doing well. I was making a fair bit of noise but thats my way of coping with pain, I'm a vocal person. MW decided I wasn't coping and put her head in the door with every contraction asking if I really was ok, and offering the pethidine each time. She convinced me that I was too tired to deliver and the pethidine would help me sleep - DS was born just under an hour later, and I have next to no memory of the delivery. I remember the MW breaking my waters and then DS was born. Apparently there was 17 seconds between the 2! Luckily, I didn't tear too badly, had 24 stiches in a 2nd degree tear, and had a couple of grazes. I know it could have been a lot worse. DS apgar was 8 at birth and 10 at the next check, so he was fine

As another poster said, if you cope well with being drunk, you stand a chance of it doing some good for you. If you feel panicky, out of control or get sick eaily when drinking, I wouldn't risk it. But, we can only give you opinions, at the end of the day, its your choice

[hermionestranger]

Had it. Hated it. Made me feel off my head but totally and utterly aware and able to feel every pain but do little about it. Awful stuff and I'd never ever have it again.

Baby was ok though. I think there was about 4 hours or so between pethedine and his delivery by EMCS.

[Thumbwitch]

I was induced at 40+14 and had quite a slow progression. By the time I was taken up to the labour ward, I could barely stand and was not having a good time with the contractions - I asked for pain relief but because I had already been sick with the contractions, they didn't want me to have gas & air, so they gave me a shot of pethidine. Can't say I noticed any difference whatsoever. I was already tired out and dozing/semi-comatose between contractions, it made no discernible difference to my pain levels and I don't think it made much difference to DS either.

The anti-sickness jab helped though! That was a huge bonus.