Tell me about drugs during labour...

[hamncheese]

So, after watching OBEM and seeing that girl completely spaced and barely awake post-diamorphine I'm wanting your opinions on the effect different pain relief has.

This is my first and would obviously like to have as little as possible and take it as necessary but not naive enough to expect not to need anything. One thing I really do not want though is to be out of it and not remember the experience. Would rather be with it and lucid as long as I can manage the pain.

So anyone got advice as to which pain relief they liked/disliked and why, as well as which to avoid if wanting to be mentally as normal as possible during labour and birth?

Thanks!

I had pethidine which completely spaced me out but tbh it was a good thing as labour was very long and it allowed me to get some sleep.

at the uncomfortable chair!

Tens then gas and air then epidural.

Epidural arrived 2 hours after it was requested, only on gas and air as didn't want pethidine. In agony by that point following induction and baby being back to back. Really wanted to push and only 4 cm.

Once on epidural I went pretty much straight to sleep as I was so exhausted. Ended up c-section but had done an hour pushing before then.

Next time I'm not even going to think about being a hero and request the epidural much earlier. Glad I didn't have pethadine because she came out so awake and ready to feed so avoided some of the feeding issues I was worried about.

Epidural epidural epidural.

Everyone is different though, so many are fine without.

I had gas and air, and was fine with it, just had to stop occasionally and have a few contractions without as it made the room spin a little as if i were drunk! I had a beautiful healthy baby boy at 6pounds nine ounces. I would recommend keeping moving though. I was managing okay as long as i was moving and was taken to the labour ward at 8cm dilated. I had sworn before hand that i wanted everything possible! But maybe not!

I was finally admitted to the hospital at about 9cm dilated, after my waters had broken and I had a really strong contraction where I could feel my DD's head bearing down and I needed to push... Only then did I get anything more pain-relief wise than codeine and paracetomol! I then had gas and air and tbh, if I do it again, I'd rather do without. I felt it slowed down the whole process, I was static on a bed and felt a bit out of it. Before I was admitted (driving the short journey at extremely high speed and praying there isn't a police car anywhere near by was also something I'd miss out on too...), I had been at home and in the bath. This was really good at helping me relax through the contractions. They still bloody hurt but i could concentrate on working with them not against them, iykwim.

I would not have any opiate based drugs again (no codeine, pethidine etc.) as they make me constipated (sorry - TMI) and that's bad enough after birth anyway, without the added drugs-related aspect. I'll stock up on the lactulose if I have to go down that route again!!

My colleague told me that she imagined surfers on the 'waves' of the contractions and she mentally focussed on the people on the surfboards washing in and out with the pain, raher than the pain itself. I couldn't do that detailed a visualisation, but bouncing up and down the length of the bath seemed to let the pain wash over me with the water!!

There are no medals for going through labour without pain relief, so don't rule it out, but if you can avoid them, then I suspect you feel a bit more mentally with it at times...

I fully expected to demand an epidural. I take paracetomol and ibuprofen to get my legs waxed; I am a wimp. But at home a TENS and paracetomol got me through 3 days of latent labour, along with a complete boxed set of House DVDS. Then after my waters broke the contractions went into overdrive and I went into the midwife led unit (expecting to transfer upstairs to the labour ward when needing my epidural) and as soon as I got into the waterpool, I couldn't feel the contractions. It was like a miracle. I remember lying there and uneasily thinking, "this is going to get really bad at some point..." because everyone knows labour is hell, right? And then it started to hurt and I asked for gas and air. After half an hour or so I ignored the "one puff in three" bullshit and sucked deeply constantly whenever a contraction hit, and then at some point I was sucking non-stop. I never seemed in much discomfort so the midwife assumed I was ages away, so they monitered externally and did no internals at all. Therefore it was a bit of a shock to them when I delivered an almost 9lb baby 4 hours after getting to hospital.

I am very pro pain relief on demand in labour. I have no truck with the idea that a woman should endure avoidable pain, and it makes me angry that people can be traumatised if things don't go as hoped - women who endure difficult labours are the supermums, not those who are lucky enough to have an easy time and pop babies out like smarties. There's no kudos in easy and it's downright weird, to my mind, that some (emphasis on some) midwives seem to be approving on what is purely luck-based. It's like thinking some people have won the lottery through inherent ball-selecting ability and commitment. But in my case, it just never hurt that much at all, and I wish I'd known that was possible too. Labour for me was fun. I enjoyed it, it's a lovely memory. It is possible to be lucky and to never need very much pain relief at all.

I took more pain relief to breastfeed (failed completely, just the same...) but that's another story! And I've had periods from hell as well that hurt a damn sight more than birth ever did. Labour, it felt like my body knew what to do and got on with it. It was easy.

Oh, one thing I do remember helping (very hippy, sorry) was being told by my extremely practical community midwife that the cervix can be visualised - every contraction pulls the cervix a bit more over the baby's head, and the baby won't retreat. So every contraction is pulling back the barrier to the baby leaving. That was probably largely helpful because the gas and air did make me feel quite stoned - mildly at the start, very by the end - and so it gave me a thought to focus on when a contraction hit which pretty much took my mind off it. The gas and air did make me feel stoned, yes. But it made it dreamlike rather than weird, and I remember the birth very clearly. It was lovely.

DD (back to back) - couple of days of TENS, paracetamol, bath at home once contractions really kicked off, arrived at hospital 8 cm dilated (and in transition, demanding epidural!), G&A (lovely) for last bit of dilating, pushing for 90 min with sod all. 8 hours of active labour. Did hypnobirthing but not sure how much it helped me - might have kept me at home longer I think.

DS - day of TENS, breathing, bath, birth pool and G&A at home once bath wasn't enough, then voluntarily abandoned G&A in favour of breathing through contractions. Second stage was a joy, whole experience was lovely. 4 hours of active labour. This time I did Lazy Daisy classes and loved them. I had a doula as well (after not-great first birth) though again not sure how much she helped as she only arrived a few minutes before DS did.

Agree with PP who said that you're going to be a bit out of it regardless - you need to retreat into your primal brain a bit, too much thinking/brain activity is only going to slow things down.

Also worth bearing in mind that pethidine takes a long time to leave a newborn (could be five days but I can't remember exactly).

No judgement here on anyone else's choices though!

My labour was 24 hours, induced due to pre-eclampsia at 40+11. Being induced was lloonngg and painful, 8 in morning I was 1cm then 4 in afternoon was only 2 cm..by time I was 5 cm, I had the tens, had been contracting 12 hours and basically needed some pain relief, few hours later, took it off, was causing me more pain then the contractions! Lol. Had dia-morphine, did feel slightly space out, I managed to rest which was the main thing. I love it and I am having it this time round to. Due to long labour it had worn off after 2 hours and I ended up going onto gas and air, which was took off me in the pushing stage..mw just gave me the end to bite down on..which was amazing! Really let me release the pain by biting down. Don't ask. I did try to bite my mums boob (birthing partner..was close and got tempted, wierd pain relief for me) lol, so midwife gave me something to prevent another person going through pain.

I had a very textbook home birth with minimal pain relief. My contractions started straight off every 2-3mins lasting 1-1.5mins in length so no gradual build up for me but here's what I did:
Early stages - hot water bottle on my back, paracetamol, bath (managed to shave my legs and tidy up "down there" . If you have access to a birthing pool I would highly recommend as bath was blimming lovely
Mid stage: listened to hypnobirthing cd and fell asleep, ate some chocolate hob-nobs (they were the ones I was supposed to supply the midwives with - oops)
A bit later: once the midwife came out she was a bit concerned about my bp so advised having G&A to avoid hospital transfer. Midwife tried to keep me mobile and active but I wasn't particularly co-operative on that front but bless her for trying

I used the G&A for the last 1.5-2 hours of my labour and delivery (and again for my internal examination afterwards on MW advice!). Not sure how much the G&A reduced pain, if at all, but it gave me a focus on my breathing. I do remember being terrified very concerned that it would run out though! During transition I visualised and talked at length about how lovely an epidural would be and that was enough to get me through. Gave birth on all fours after the MW's insisted that baby wasn't going to come out with me sat bolt upright on the bed. Good idea that was....

I did do a hypno-birthing course which definitely helped in some ways - explained and visualised exactly what was going on during each contraction so I worked with them and didn't tense up with fear each time, I used the breathing techniques and I became conditioned to falling asleep during the cd. I never managed to do the visualisation stuff though.

I could have had pethidine at home but was against it before labour as I'd heard such bad reviews - doesn't work, babies not breathing, babies not latching to feed etc.... that had I needed stronger pain relief I would have transferred to hospital for an epidural instead (although I didn't really want that either because it can lead to further interventions blah blah blah)

Total labour start to finish was 9 hours but it seemed so short afterwards - time flew by.

Sorry for mammoth post

no - one explained to me how gas and air worked when I had my first baby so although I was taking it in - it was all at the worng times and consequently it wasn't effective. I also had pethedine and then emc

When I was pg with my second I saw a midwife on tv who was explaining how gas and air works during labour and how to take the gas and air.

I used gas and air only for my second and it worked well as I used it correctly and at the points at which I was supposed to take it.

I loved the epidural. DS was born perfect and is still perfect
I would have an epidural again with another dc, without a second thought :)

Oh, and gas and air before the epidural was lovey as well.

Also agree with the people saying you aren't lucid in labour anyway. You go into this dreamlike state and feel completely animal, or at least that was my experience. It was odd, it felt like I'd given birth before and knew exactly what to do. Bizarre as I am the least physically adept person on the planet and never feel in touch with anything. (I have to consciously remember which hand is my right.) So pain relief will probably stop panic, which is the worst thing you can do in labour.

Honestly, if you're lucky it won't hurt much. If it starts to, you can get pain relief. No need to be a hero. Just to have you and the baby in one piece and bonny.

I had an epidural - didn't feel a thing! Though as DDs were emergency deliveries, I think they may have over done it, as I couldn't feel my legs for a long time the next day.

I was induced and found it painful. G&A was helpful but made me feel a bit nauseous, pethidine was a delight and was by far the easiest part of the labour, but I was later offered an epidural which I accepted which was wonderful - I was really struggling with the pain and it all went away.
Needed a section though.
Baby born alert and well, no trouble feeding and not lethargic.
I was completely lucid and aware of what was going on, but dreamlike is a good way to describe it.

Take what pain relief you need at the time, there are no medals for abstinence. But not everybody needs it, or has the same reaction.

I had diamorphine after a very long early stage with a baby who turned out to be back to back so I was in agony.

I do understand other posters saying about feeling spaced out on it but for me it helped me to get some much needed sleep between contractions (I ended up on oxytocin and with other complications was not able to be mobile) so that when the time came to finally push, I was rested enough to be able to do so.

I can't comment about feeling spaced out afterwards as I was then put under a general and then whisked away to theatre, but after all that I felt great!

I would say that you should read up on pain relief and go in with an open mind. Hopefully, you will get a straightforward birth and not need too much but if you do, don't beat yourself up over it as I have discovered being a parent gives you far bigger stresses/guilt than a few hours over the delivery of your baby.

I had 3 babies with no pain relief - partly lucky, partly because I met a midwife a few days before birth of DS1 who was the first person to suggest giving birth could be enjoyable if you could get on top of it mentally - I felt i would not be able to do this while under the influence of any drugs, needed to concentrate really hard. Visualisation helped ( "imagine your lady bits opening like a flower") ,as did controlled breathing.
I know this doesn't work for everyone, and that particularly long labours are going to be more difficult. I do think that if you are in an environment where you feel safe, and have someone calm supporting you, it will be easier. Mental relaxation techniques help ( have heard of very good results from hypnobirthing, you could also try yoga) - but my main point is if you can feel in control then you will be more able to go with the flow of labour.
However, as you will have seen from other posters, it doesn't always go to plan,and you're not always given a choice - eg you might want an epidural but the anaethetist might not be there when you want it.
If you can, ask your mum/ grandmothers/ aunts what their labours were like - with hindsight I now realise that my labours were similar to theirs - it might help you to know what to expect.
As shenanigans says,
"read up on pain relief and go in with an open mind. Hopefully, you will get a straightforward birth and not need too much but if you do, don't beat yourself up over it as I have discovered being a parent gives you far bigger stresses/guilt than a few hours over the delivery of your baby."

Do your research before hand so that you know what for example an epidural means.

Keep an open mind.
You come from a long line of women who have had babies - you are designed for it. Take heart from that fact.
Think of it an as a long distance athletic event, you need to be fit and go into it well rested and during it keep your fluid and blood sugar levels up.

Don't panic during the early stages, hot water bottles, moving around, Tens machine and DH rubbing my back helped calm me down and allowed lots hormones to start flowing. Gas & air worked for me.

12 hours in I asked the midwife for something stronger, she told me in a really confident way that I did n't need it, I trusted her, she was right. Not heard the 'three contraction' rule before but makes sense.

My Tens machine got lent round the area, the highest numbers reached at each birth range from 16 to 38 so we all vary. The overwhelming priority is to have a safe delivery for mother & baby, that's really the bottom line.

Best wishes...

I got nothing for any birth but after DD was born the MW asked if I'd like paracetamol, I replied in the affirmative - she gave me one snapped in half.

i didn't have any pain relief at all but I will say that if you can keep on the move it will help you deal with the pain and also helps to move things along.
I walked up and down the stairs a lot, rocked on furniture and did lots of rocking to and fro on all fours. The worst bits by far were when I was stuck in the car unable to move and very early in labour when they were doing a VE before sending me home

Not quite answering your question directly but hopefully a good strategy if you can cope with it

I was induced both times. I wouldn't have pethedine again! I remember about an hour of DS' ten hour labour! I was totally out of it, until about an hour after delivery. I may have also had a drip, but I can't actually remember!
With DD I had g+a, and it was better, but I was still groggy. I do love entonox though!
The next time I'm in labour, I'd really like to try a water birth. Preferably at home. In the event that this wasn't possible, I'd have an epidural. I would very much like a lucid labour.

Gas and Air was really awful for me.

First time round, I had no idea what labor felt like so let the midwife guide me.
Pain took my by surprise not because of the intensity but because of the sheer surprise with every wave of contraction.
So I just took the G&A as contractions came thinking the pain would be too excruciating to bear.
Have a very blurry memory of the few hours I was on it.

Why would anyone want to feel stoned when delivering a baby is beyond me. And also of course the fact that you have no memory of what goes on at that time. I WANT to remember those precious moments and I can't. All I remember is the midwife shoving it in my face and then feeling spaced out.
After a few hours contractions stopped for a bit and I refused to take anymore.

Had a mobile epi in the end as they put me on a drip to accelerate contractions. Brilliant stuff if you get the right dosage. You are totally conscious, you completely feel each contraction but as a sharp tightening without the pain and it wears off enough in the end that you can totally push.

Downside is you can't walk for the first couple of hours after the shot. You can however be mobile on the bed and be helped into crouching squatting with DH or midwife & pillows to support you.

Second time round I went without. I knew what was to come.The contractions lasted all day and went to yoga, flower market, played with DS, had a long warm bath. The distraction of doing pleasurable activities was enough to take my mind off it really. Only really felt pain about 3 hours before baby popped out, at which point we went to the labor ward. Just about soon enough!

I can not recommend enough pregnancy yoga, breathing and visualization techniques.
Because I had such a blurry memory of the first delivery, I was really looking forward to it second time round rather than fearing it and it made such a difference.
Also, stay at home and have someone pamper you (massage, cup of tea, bath) as long as you can.

Finally be prepared to surrender and trust your midwife/Doctor to make the right decision if things don't go according to plan.
All that matters in the end is that the baby finds his way out safely.

Good luck

Interesting to see that a poster has said that mws had to break her waters as they hadn't gone- why is that, I wonder?

In both of my labours, my waters didn't break until I was just about to push. The mws saw no reason to break them for me. I've heard that contractions become more intense once the waters have gone so I consider myself lucky and wonder why anyone would try to break the waters if it wasn't necessary.

I had an epidural, it was fab, totally pain free labour, fully 'with it' throughout, just chatting to DH and nurses popping it and out, even had a bit of a sleep at one point, then hey presto baby born into a nice happy, pain free environment. If I have baby number 2 some day i'll do the same thing again.