Allergies anyone referred to an anaethetist during pregnancy?

[twiglet]

Had my 2nd midwife appointment today (they split it up in my area) and she said due to my allergies I will be referred to the anaethetist.
I react to opiate based painkillers so morphine codeine etc and can't have gluten.
I have no idea what my options are for pain relief during birth I'm first trimester so it's a bit of way off or if my only option will be gas and air

Presumably your appointment with the anaesthetist will be to review this and decide on a plan for pain relief during labour. It depends on the extent/type of reaction that you have. You would probably still be able to have an epidural as this is local anaesthetic rather than opiate based but there may be other options. Anaesthetists are experts in this sort of thing so I’m sure they’ll be able to give you plenty of advice!

The anaesthetist will want to explore the exact nature of your allergy to opiates and talk to you about pain relief options. It may still be possible to have an epidural if you want one but if you are unable to have any opioids at all then it might need a bit of extra planning, which is why they want to see you. It's also so that if you end up needing to go to theatre for whatever reason they can be prepared there.

Your gluten intolerance is not relevant.

Thanks I had never heard of being referred to the anaethetist before.
I vomit instantly and usually get knocked out by even the lowest codeine so either extremely drousy or out for the count probably not ideal for labour..... 🤔 Lol

I have allergies and was referred to the anaesthetist in my pregnancies. I was given the options of remifentanil (which is IV drug you click when you need it)
Epidural was available for me but I chose not to take it. Used gas and air as well.
The apps are really easy - discuss the ins and outs of your allergies and they literally give you a list of what you can/ can’t have. Takes 30 mins at most... good luck OP!
I actually was relieved afterwards cause it was a plan in my notes, made me feel like they were prepared for me.

Morphine is useless anyway when in labour.

So gas and air or epidural. Water birth helps with pain as well.

It’s the same options as the rest of us really.

It's not part of routine antenatal care to see an anaesthetist but it's not particularly uncommon either, for all sorts of reasons - previous problems with anaesthetics, allergies, other medical problems that might affect appropriate anaesthetic options, high BMI etc. It's nothing to worry about, they just want to make sure they can make a plan for you if you need their assistance in labour, either with an epidural or if you need to go to theatre for C-section/forceps/tear repair etc.

@JustVent you can have pethidine but the OP can't as it is in the family of drugs she has allergies with.

@Bluebug45 yes I know, as I mentioned in my post - morphine based drugs are pretty useless in labour. I then listed the more popular and effective pain relief methods.

@JustVent what you didn't make clear in your post was that it was a common pain relief option.

Oddly my friends' who have had pethidine during labour didn't state it was useless for them, on the other hand I know women who have had opioids who for other reasons and avoided it during labour.

Thanks all you've made me feel loads better about it. Hopefully it will be straight forward it discussion and will be pretty straight forward