Labour pain relief - Getting terrified now

[Hannabee123]

So I've been to discuss pain relief options in my hospital today. I can chose from:

Gas & Air
Pethidine
Remifentanil drip
Epidural

I've been told if I don't chose an epidural and things go along because I'm high risk they will end up putting me to sleep to get the baby out.

This conversation has sparked some serious terror and I'm now scared shitless 😣

I really don't want an epidural but I'm considering it just in case anything goes south and it's in then...

Can someone calm me down or give me some of your experiences with pain relief in labour. What would you recommend or had good or bad experiences with?

I know that labour is complex and ANYTHING can happen / not go to plan. But would just like an idea of what to try and aim for

Not all epidurals are the same, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are totally knocked out from the waist down. I had one after being induced on the drip, I had ideally wanted a water birth but they wanted DC out.

Having it was like a small electric shock to the back for me. I was given a presser which I could press every 15 mins to bring more drugs (as you can see I’m no doctor) or I could leave it and feel more. A friend of mine had the same thing and barely used it, I let it wear off so I could feel to push.

It actually wasn’t like I’d imagined and I think having the control over dosage was really good. Some hospitals have ones where you can even walk around.

I had no scarring and no problems from it. It’s a very personal choice but what I’d say is even if you choose one there are still options. It wasn’t my first choice but it worked very well in the end, a couple of Nct friends had crash sections so I feel very fortunate in comparison.

I had a failed epidural with my 1st, supplemented by gas and air.
With my second and third I got to the hospital too late to have anything other than just gas and air. My second was back to back so was quite painful to say the least, but I managed. With my third I gave birth standing/squatting at the side of the bed. It wasn't planned, but just how I felt most 'comfortable'. I feel it definitely helped being in this position as, even though I did have a slight tear, I have felt no discomfort after the birth this time around.