Thoughts on epidural?

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Pregnant with my first.. my ideal birth is water birth with only gas and air. (I know I'll need to come out of the pool if I decide to have one)

Is it totally unrealistic to think I won't need an epidural? I'm not completely against the idea but would love to just be able to get through on gas and air! What's everybody's experiences with epidurals?

I went to 9 cm dilated in the pool with only 2 paracetamol taken 4 hours previously, then DC got distressed so had to come out and get an epidural and emergency c section. I didn't even feel the epidural being done at the time as I was too worried about the baby.

Second DC and had another epidural and emergency c section, due to decreased fetal movement. This was discovered at a scan appointment, so I wasn't expecting it at all. Again my only thoughts were for baby's safety and did not realise epidural was done until they laid me flat again. I just sort of went on automatic pilot and did as I was asked.

Everyone's experience is different, and every pregnancy is different for every mother too, so it's impossible to say what will happen for you.

The best advice I can give is to aim for what type of birth you'd like, but be open minded to changes or advice from your midwife both before and during labour.

In the end, it's only the safety and health of mum and baby that is the most important, not whether you manage to get your 'ideal' birth, so try to relax as best you can.

It's definitely worth both the wait and the worry to have your DC in your arms. Best wishes to you and your little family. x

My first was an epidural due to induction my second I told the midwife I would need it soon and my babies head was already part of the way out. Of course midwife told me one push and DD would be here and she was right.
You really have to sit on the fence as you cannot, no matter how much you want to predict what kind of labour you will have.
Keep it as an option and see how you go.
Best of luck !

I was planning a water birth too. Then quickly realised that the 'oooh water is such great pain relief' is a big fat lie. Epidural was amazing - reading a book, chatting to the MW, walking around, but no pain.

Just have an open mind, that way you don’t get feelings of disappointment. The only thing on my birth plan was that if I asked for an epidural, to give me one. And that I didn’t want pethadine (it makes me projectile vomit).

As it happened, I had a 3 day, back to back labour, my contractions kept stalling & my cervix didn’t progress past 5cm. I was then given induction drugs and the pain was awful. But I do have a low pain threshold & I was anxious & very tired by that point. Epidural was fantastic. My first one failed, which wasn’t so great but they came back & did another one. It allowed me to sleep for a couple hours which I desperately needed.

I’ll be going in with an identical mindset this time around. If I need one, then great. If I don’t, we’ll even better. No-one really wants a giant needle in their spine!

Amazing.

Get yourself a lovely epidural. You get to sleep through half of it. Looking after a new baby when exhausted after a 2/3 day Labour is no fucking joke.

I wanted a water birth but I had a bleed when my waters went and then had to be induced so it was a no. Before labour I'd been scared of having an epidural (paranoid about paralysis) but when it came to it I didn't think twice and had it done. For me, it didn't completely take away the contraction sensation so I could still feel when they were happening, they just weren't painful. I'm sorry I didn't get to at least try a water birth but I'm so glad I had the epidural!

I wasn't planning on having an epidural, I wanted to go all natural. But after a long, painful labour I changed my mind. Oh, it was bliss.

The downside was that when the time came I couldn't feel to push DC out and I ended up having a forceps delivery. I hadn't wanted that, but it went well & I recovered quickly so no regrets.

I has much quicker labours subsequently & only needed gas & air.

I had 3 dc with no drugs at all. I think staying upright (so kneeling or standing) makes a massive difference to pain levels so maybe explore that as an option. The midwife insisted I got into a seated position to check dilation for ds1 and pain went from a 2 to an 8 pretty immediately. Once I got back in an upright position, the pain became very manageable again.

What I would say though, is keep an open mind. If you need drugs, whether it be gas and air or an epidural, then take it. The important thing is a safe birth. Stressing yourself out with excessive pain is no good for anybody.

@NichyNoo - So if your vagina rips open it's only natural and humane to have pain relief.

None of my births involved my vagina being ripped open. There is no need for such exaggeration. My vagina dilated. That is very different. Yes, some women end up tearing but a lot of that could be avoided by an upright position.

I didn’t want to have one, so I gave birth in a place that meant I couldn’t have one. I’m not sure that’s entirely logical, reading it back, but I was pregnant and it made sense at the time. So my first ended up being born without pain relief and for the second I was happy to do it again - actually ended up having a longer labour the second time around as baby was back to back, so I had gas and air, first time I’d ever had it and I thought it was great fun. I’ve never tried water, so not sure what I think about that.

There's just no way of knowing how it will go. Go in with a birth "outline" and an open mind. I fully expected to have an epidural but only ended up needing diamorphine for my first and just gas and air for my second.

Also PP said about tears but I tore with both and gas and air to deal with that was fine. They would numb you for any stitches anyway, its really not that bad!

Have I missed a bit? Why would you need to come out of the pool?

Two water births with no pain relief and one ‘normal’ birth with diamorphine and gas and air.

Give me the water any day!!

I had gas and air for my labour and was fine he was even a chunk at 9lbs 2. Would also ask your midwife about saline water injections (might be called sterile water injections) just four little injections at the base of your spine and it helps so much x x x

As others have said just go in with an open mind. I thought I'd want an epidural but in the end my first labour was much quicker than I expected (6.5 hours) so I didn't need it.

I had a spinal block with DC1 (similar to epidural) - went into labour open minded about everything except having an epidural, which i really didnt want due to being freaked out by the thought of having a catheter. But labour was long and baby was back to back with a 98th centile head, and after 3+ hrs of pushing with G+A i was really fatigued and beyond caring, so agreed to forceps with a spinal block (also requires catheter).

Honestly, it was bliss. The pain went immediately and DC1 was delivered quickly. I'm not planning to have one this time round (as i don't think you can really plan much to do with labour really), but definitely not bothered if i end up with one. For me, although labour was painful it was the exhaustion of the pain going on that got me, rather than the degree of pain itself IYSWIM. So Im hoping no.2 is faster, but if it isnt then I won't have any qualms accepting any intervention including epidural/spinal block.

Keep your options open. You have no idea what sort of birth you'll have.

With my first, I was all set for a hypnobirth in the water. Ha ha! Ended up with 24 hours of agony; back to back baby, lots of complications and all the pain relief available. It was so hideous I genuinely wanted to die.

Second time, I thought I'd have an epidural. Instead, DD was born in the water pool with no pain relief at all. Yes it hurt, but it was bearable, relatively quick, and straightforward.

My experiences taught me that "pain threshold" is nonsense. All births are different and you need to make the best decisions at the time, depending on circumstances. Hope all goes well.

I hoped for gas and air and birth pool. Had them both for about 8 hours. Was great but then SPD got worse. I'd put in birth plan that I was terrified of epidural but knew I couldn't take pethidine etc. They were very kind explaining how it worked and moving me carefully, when I got to the point of asking to try.
I know epidurals are associated with longer more intervention births, but it's quite likely more tricky births are more likely to try epidurals. It worked a treat and had the great advantage I could be stitched slowly and carefully as I couldn't feel anything.

One warning - it's common to have involuntary shivers lasting a few days after. Was very glad I knew that as it was seriously wierd. Also a headache for a couple days is common. My second birth epidural went a bit strong and my legs were completely floppy so even two people couldn't help me onto all fours - but did mean I lay back relaxing until dc2 popped out.

It's great that epidurals exist, but quite understand wanting to avoid if possible.

Had to be induced with DS and I think initially they didn't believe me that I was actually properly in pain. The paracetamol did nothing whatsoever. They eventually agreed to check my cervix again after the pessary had got bored and got flushed down the loo. To their surprise, I was at 6cm. Got taken downstairs and I think my first words were "I want an epidural!". All fine and the following few hours were painless. Glad I got one, since it wasn't certain whether they'd need to do an emergency c-section. In the end, he had to be pulled out.
Gas and air makes me feel rather high and really uncomfortable, so that wasn't an option.

I was induced at 42 weeks and managed 20 hours of contractions (3 mins apart) before I begged for the epidural, which was the most amazing thing ever

I was given an epidural to stop involuntary pushing at only 7cms. Had been in labour for 3 days by this point and was beyond exhausted, I was just trying to make it through each contraction. The pain was bearable but the exhaustion was not!

As soon as I had it, I felt like a new woman. I could concentrate, I was aware of where I was and who was in the room, and could hold a conversation. I promptly fell asleep for a few hours which was bliss.

Had initially wanted water birth, gas and air etc, but my body had different ideas. The epidural was honestly one of the best moments of my labour!!

It's completely do able otherwise everyone would be given an epidural as soon as they got to hospital. The tricky part is you just don't know how labour will progress but ultimately it's your decision as to whether you have one or not.

I'd definitely advise getting clued up on how to help yourself during labour & positions & movements to help aid dilation & help move baby down through birth canal. Could be a course, online, books or whatever suits you best.

My first was an induction, just about held off the epidural (just) & had forceps delivery. First time round I did nothing to prepare for birth & went in clueless.

Second time did a 3 hour workshop on breathing, movements etc.. & had a waterbirth with gas & air. Second time round is usually easier but sure this all helped too.

I had a spinal for repair after delivery & I personally found it awful - I hated not feeling my legs or being able to move but not doubt if i'd been in labour for hours in agony I'd have absolutely had one.

Definitely go in with an open mind. I didn't have a birth plan but was offered the birthing pool when I arrived at the hospital.

It didn't help much for me, nor did the gas and air. I had been in early labour for 50 hours previously with only 4 hours sleep so was exhausted aswell as in pain.
I begged for something stronger, didn't get an epidural but got diamorphine instead, that with the gas and air helped me tremendously and made the rest on the contractions more bearable.
If I had been in the late stage of labour for longer I would have definitely asked for an epidural.

Also I forgot to mention that with both of my births I had intervention free deliveries with a minimal tear the first time and no tear the second time. I think the trick is to not get one too early if you can avoid it, but equally my body might just not be particularly prone to tearing.

I did about ten hours of active back-to-back labour in the pool with gas and air and it was fine. I had to have an epidural in the end for forceps but if I’d been able to push him out I wouldn’t have done. The epidural was fine going in and I was glad to have it because they took about an hour to stitch up my 3rd degree tear and episiotomy and I didn’t feel a thing. The only downside was that I had a lot of itching for the next couple of days. No headache though.