Epidural? what's the down sides? I like the thought of less pain!

[JoeMommuh]

I had first birth with just gas&air and a shot of pethadine. Normal delivery, about 18 hours from losing the mucas plug to delivery - and 7 hours of proper labour i guess.

2nd birth - C-sec for reasons outside my control,decided long before labour started etc, no reason i couldn't delivery naturally 3rd time round time if baby is happy.

3rd birth - .... so whats the downside of an epidural? I know it sounds flippant but i'm picturing reading a magazine whilst i get up to 10cm instead of shouting and screaming and it's a nice fantasy!! I also have the choice of another c-sec which is also tempting... i don't enjoy pain :) have a meeting with consultant soon to discuss birth options and they might try and put my off an epidural for cost reasons, but i'm wondering what the people of mumsnet have to say about it if they've experienced it?

My epidural for DC2 was fabulous, no downsides at all. It's didn't slow things down either, as it was still only a 4.5 hour labour. AND, as things had gone so well, I was discharged from hospital four hours after the birth as well, so no lasting effects either - unlike with DC1 (3rd degree tear, terrible recovery, although to be fair I asked for an epi then as well but had progressed too quickly)

I would have one again in a heartbeat.

I think the big risk is heightened chance of intervention, including c-section, which is what happaned to me. It slowed my contractions down.

I had a bad reaction to the epidural. Had uncontrollable vomiting - just kept going on and on. Was so exhausted afterwards, ended up having emergency c-section.

Reacted in exactly same way at DS's birth, with spinal block. Uncontrollable vomiting, and it didn't block pain. Had to have general anaesthetic.

Was very ill after both births. Thankfully both babies healthy.

Sorry haven't read the whole thread so someone may have mentioned already, but I think it can cross the placenta, the baby is less alert when born, and it's harder to establish breast feeding. THat's what i found with DS1. DS2 was gas and air and BF straight away. But admittedly, I was more experienced then and had met a wonderful BF counsellor when DS1 was 5 years old, immediate skin to skin contact after birth is v important, DS1 didn't have that.

Sorry should have been "when DS1 was 5 DAYS old!".

I had a failed epidural. I was not expecting it and it was beyond hell for me.

The downsides for me personally (I had one for my first birth and would never again).

• A lot of pain to endure before I was in established labour and they'd consider the epidural clinically applicable.

• A lot of difficulty, and a lot of blood, getting it in place .As in fountains of blood across the room. Puddles on the floor (I have a very minor and previous unnoticed spinal issue).

-It didn't bloody work. I was utterly numb and couldn't move, but somewhere deep inside there was still pain. They didnt' really understand how. Pain when I couldn't deal with it by moving was terrifying.

• Too much down one side. The left leg was numb for half a day.

• Had to have so much to try and deal with the above that I couldn't feel to push and ended up with forceps. Although the registrar was great, I have ongoing pelvic floor issues (minor, but enough I'll never set foot on a bouncy castle or do a boot camp exercise class) 6 years later.

For my second I decided no way. If I needed a section I'd take a spinal block. Short of that, I wasn't going near one. It didn't work for pain and caused other problems.

Didn't have an epidural for labour (got to hospital 10cm and pushing...) but had one for repair of 3rd degree tear.

After 5 attempts to get it in, a consultant was sent for who then tried a spinal, which was successful after 2 attempts. Apparently I look easy to anaesthetise, but am not . Like a few PPs, I was readmitted to hospital a few days later with the dural tap/spinal headache thing, which was the most horrendous pain I've ever had, much worse than labour. I couldn't sit up for days. The blood patch to fix it took 2 goes as well! I also had problems with sciatica and legs going weak for months afterwards.

Even without the complications, I couldn't imagine sitting still enough to get one in in labour!

But equally some people have no problems!

Oh, on how good they are, this mn webchat was very interesting. In response to DancerRoo he says that he thinks only 60-70% of women get the pain relief they want. Now he doesn't say how much that improves after further tinkering. But on that figure you are talking 3-4 women in every 10 being dissatisfied. That was much higher than I'd been led to believe before having one.

I had an epidural with ds1. I wasnt coping till then.

downsides are - I very nearly had to have a ventouse, as i couldnt feel to push properly. If this had happened, it would have obviously meant episitomy, with all that entails.
It increases the risk of having intervention like forceps, ventouse, c section.
The being immobile on your bed is a big deal.

My baby was taken down to special care. I couldnt even go and see him for several hours because I couldnt walk until the epidural had worn off. That was hard.

I had my next two babies with no pain relief at home, and with much better support, and whilst more pain, I found the experiences SO much more positive, and I was up and about really quickly

If you're still undecided, ask about remifentanil (sp?). Not many hospitals have it but mine did and it was amazing. Set up in a cannula and you get one dose per contraction as it only lasts a minute or two. Seriously made an unbearable situation bearable. Very low risk - some ladies don't get on with it but the effects wear off within a few mins. Needs a doc to insert it but works instantly. At our hosp it is routinely offered and since then very few have epidurals I am told.

I think with 2nd and subsequent births there is a risk of not being enough time to find anaesthetist and get epidural.

It was the perfect solution for me. The only downside was to stay motionless during contractions while they were inserting the needle.
I was very firm and said that I only agree to oxytocin if I get an epidural at the same time.
And yes, I did need intervention later on, but it was unavoidable and unrelated to the epidural.
I could tell when contractions were coming well before the monitor, but I was not in pain. I could push really hard as well.
Consultant worried that I might feel the episiotomy, but I did not. (Not then anyway.)

Good luck and all the best.

I loved my Epidurals. DD1 was forceps, but not sure if this was caused by the epidural or not. She was induced; labour took forever to get going and I was exhausted. The epidural let me sleep, and I could have kissed the anesthetist.

DD2 I chose to have one because I just wanted one. It was a fantastic birth. Yes it did slow labour down to 4 hours "proper" labour, but the trainee midwife in attendance said it was the best birth she had attended yet, as we were laughing and joking as DD2 came out. I was far less stressed after DD2's birth than with DD1 and I think that is a great benefit

Downsides - possibly caused the intervention with DD1. With both I had to stay in hospital and go to the ward overnight rather than just go home after 6 hours.

Downsides of epidurals?

NONE.

Let me repeat that in case it wasn't clear.

NONE.

The (understandable) reason one is discouraged from having one on the NHS is that it is more expensive (anaesthetist vs. midwife cost & fact that it can result in a slightly slower labour i.e. more pressure on beds).

Fight for your basic human right for pain relief I say….

Notdead- No! Downside of your epidural NONE. Downside of mine, plenty. Although staffing can be a problem and shouldn't be , it is misleading to say that's the only reason.

Well quite.. Nice to hear some have no bother from their epidurals but doesn't mean it's universal for all!

Not dead yet - read the fucking thread!

Sorry. Should have RTFT. Apologise. Just saw title in discussions of the day and reacted. I do realise some people have problems with their epidurals, but assume (?) they are in huge minority.

Having said that, I feel that it is inhumane that women are expected to endure such torture without pain relief. I was made to feel very guilty asking for mine (by some sniffy young slip of a girl who I am sure hadn't been through it herself). No one would yank teeth out without anaesthetic. I wish someone had warned me how bad the pain would get; didn't feel prepared at all.

The epidural/intervention connection is thought to be correlation, not causation. Epidurals tend to be given in more complex labours (induced, long, bad positioning etc) that have higher likelihood of intervention anyway.

Now your second post I agree with 100% !

Childbirth is torture for a lot of women and our best efforts at pain relief are still woeful.

Notdead - not a tiny minority unfortunately. Hic up thread is an anaesthestist and I think quoted 1/8 get inadequate pain relief. The Web chat I linked to said possibly higher.

Downside in my case - passing out, giving birth whilst semi conscious sounds like a great idea! In reality, it was horrible.

Downside in my friend's birth - a terrible post epidural migraine, which went on for nearly a year, despite several blood patches. She ended up having to deal with addiction to painkillers, and still gets migraines which leave her wrecked.

I do realise some people have problems with their epidurals, but assume (?) they are in huge minority

My friend was told that the figures for those affected by epidural headaches were sketchy, because of the reporting of the headaches - if they happen within the first 3 days, they are recorded as post dural, but some get missed because they start a week after - but she was told somewhere between 1 in 100/500.