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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Will you be having an epidural?

116 replies

tacosplease · 22/11/2019 17:58

My mum had an epidural when giving birth to me and has always maintained that when I have a baby, it's something I must do because the pain is unbearable otherwise.

As a result I always assumed that it was a very common thing to go for, but when I mentioned this to my midwife she seemed a bit surprised. According to the Babycentre website only around 30% of women have them.

How many posters on here will be asking for an epidural and what are the positives/negatives of having one? If you don't opt for an epidural, is gas and air literally the only pain relief you get?

OP posts:

itsbeenalongtime · 23/11/2019 21:43

Did anyone else have an experience where an epidural hasn't worked properly? I had one...didn't give any relief so it was resited. Same problem so it was removed and a new one placed. Still no relief and at this stage I needed a c-section. I almost ended up with a GA as they had difficulty getting the spinal block to take. Wish I'd asked afterwards why this was.

MissisBee · 23/11/2019 21:56

@itsbeenalongtime mine didn't work properly - could still feel everything on my left hand side. Still a lot better than without, so I was glad I had it. I had to go for a (very) emergency section. They had time to try and adjust the epidural (didn't work) but no time to do a spinal, so I had to have a GA.

Shelby30 · 23/11/2019 22:16

I really don't believe 30%, most women I know have an epidural.

I wanted want it was in my birth plan. Why would you want to suffer when u can be fairly pain free!

My sister tried to put me off saying u can have back problems and might tear if u can't feel properly etc.

I had one about an hour into labour, thank god. I was induced, on the evil drip and had a back to back baby. The pain was 0 to 100 so intense. The epidural was fabulous couldn't feel any the pain. Although it did stop working down one side and had to be topped up which still didn't work.

So glad I had it as I ended up with an emergency section and would have been so annoyed to have suffered for 15hrs for nothing!

LondonKate · 23/11/2019 23:56

I had my first with gas and air and I wouldn't plan to use more pain relief for my second (I am currently 26 weeks pregnant). I felt positive about my birth - a bit like those infuriating marathon runners I am sure we all know.... Bits of it hurt but the overall experience for me was of accomplishment. I found that because contractions are short - about 2 minutes is the maximum - there is always a break just around the corner. Also, I am proper scared of big needles in my back.

Runningonempty84 · 24/11/2019 01:10

There aren't any breaks between contractions if your baby is back to back. It's constant, utter, indescribable hell. And yes, I've done "normal" labour too, and that was a breeze by comparison. There were breaks!

And what's with the slight on marathon runners?! IME marathon running is a piece of piss compared to giving birth. But then perhaps my body is designed for distance running more than it is for labour.

ewod · 24/11/2019 04:14

I had an epidural without even remembering asking for one 😂. I was in and out of consciousness on gas and air, so think my pain barrier must've been pretty low! Next thing I knew I came around to an anaesthetist showing me the button to click every 20-30 mins for a top up on pain relief. For the next 6 hours or so my husband and I had some cups of tea with biscuits to raise my sugar levels, until midwife said "probably get you pushing in an hour if you're ready?". So I laid off the button a bit to help "feel" contractions and baby was born not long after! So bizzare having contractions but absolutely no pain, I found the experience really relaxed and also pretty casual!

Everyone experiences it differently, but for me it was a positive one, and I'd definitely recommend it if you feel it's right for you 😊

Oliversmumsarmy · 24/11/2019 08:04

I was induced and had a back to back baby.

I don’t think I could have made it if it wasn’t for the epidural.

After 52 hours I had an EMCS

I only felt one contraction just as they were about to put the epidural in and I didn’t think I could get through that one contraction.

Original poster

tacosplease · 24/11/2019 08:53

What does a back to back baby mean? Do you know your baby is back to back before you start giving birth, or...?

OP posts:

Oliversmumsarmy · 24/11/2019 08:59

Back to back is where baby is facing outwards rather than towards your spine.

Babies spine is lying on your spine iyswim

Newbie1981 · 24/11/2019 09:21

Best thing I ever did. Good luck

Original poster

tacosplease · 24/11/2019 09:43

Back to back is where baby is facing outwards rather than towards your spine.

Thanks! What’s the ideal position for the baby to be in before birth?

OP posts:

Passthecherrycoke · 24/11/2019 10:38

The problem with the baby is bones. Especially head bone. They don’t squash and squeeze much. The day after I gave birth I passed a clot half the size of my baby. Completely painless, it just popped out. It’s bone

Back to back just intensifys the bone problem as it’s bone on bone

Sometimes your midwife can tell if baby is back to back but they often turn in the weeks or days before bjrth

Sleeplesssleepseeker · 24/11/2019 11:03

Interesting thread. I'm not having any more babies, but I didn't have an epidural for either birth, but I didn't 100% rule it out beforehand either - I think an open mind is important.

I used a TENS machine for both births. I didn't like gas and air. First birth was a drip induction in hospital and second was a lovely birth center birth (I used the pool to give birth and took TENS off at that point). I suppose I did rule out an epidural for the second birth as I chose a birth center. I did have a brief "what the fuck have I done?" moment about that, but it was fine.

But I'm lucky that I haven't had long drawn out or difficult labours, I would have totally had an epidural if I had been in significant pain for hour upon hour. My longest labour was around 24hrs but most of that was very mild latent stage with only 3 hours active labour and 1.5 pushing (that was on the drip).

It's a very personal decision, there's no right or wrong!

Original poster

tacosplease · 24/11/2019 11:41

That’s a point! I’m hoping to use the birth centre at my hospital as the environment seems far more relaxing than the hospital ward - but I’d assumed that if I do need an epidural, they will whisk me into the labour ward.

Or should I be giving birth in the labour ward if I’m even considering an epidural?

OP posts:

agteacht · 24/11/2019 15:06

I think your approach is logical @Sleeplesssleepseeker ... surely it's almost impossible to know what ultimately you'll need...

@tacosplease that's the situation I'm in. Planning to go to birth centre but if I need an epidural they'll move me to the labour ward which is upstairs from the birth centre. Will let you know in a week or two if that worked out...

Sleeplesssleepseeker · 24/11/2019 15:32

Yes, if you are in a birth unit that is part of a hospital then you can move to labour ward for an epidural.

I was in a community birth center so I would have had to travel to hospital in an ambulance (hence why I said I did kind of rule it out the second time around). I'm sure they would have transferred me if I wasn't progressing and was adamant I wanted one, but obviously it would have been a right old faff!

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