Pain relief in labour

[Daisysandviolets]

Starting to think about my birth plan, what pain relief did people have in labour? I'm really not keen on an epidural, I know people say they work wonders but I just don't like the idea! What's did everyone have and how was it? X

I wasn’t keen on an epidural either.

About 10 hours into contractions I was VERY keen on an epidural!!! I got one at about 14 hours and had to manage on pethodine until then.
Everything you think now will go out of the window when you start contracting, it’s ‘ok’ at first but then it’s relentless and endless and my god it’s so much better with an epidural!

Next time I’m gonna see if they’ll give me one the week before I’m due 👍🏻😬

I say this as a FTM who's never experienced it before but I want as little as possible, enough so that I can cope with the pain. I see the pain as part of the process so don't want to completely block it.

That being said I can be a wimp and will probably be begging for the strongest stuff they have after a minute!

I think what a PP has said is probably very true that until you actually feel it you just won't know what you want or need - I will just make sure I'm familiar with the different options I guess x

On DC1 I tried gas and air and didn't like the taste, then I had a shot of dimorphine which just made me dizzy and didnt help the pain, but did make my contractions go from 1 to 100 in intensity (I think because I did relax a little). I didnt want an epidural, and honestly even though I had a labour that was technically over 52 hours (about 18 hours of contractions being 2 mins apart) I never felt I needed one.

Now I am due DC2 in 14 qeeks and I am definitely going to be more clued up on my pain relief options. My midwife just left me to it and didnt offer anything. I say look into all types of pain relief, ask what your options are with your midwife, look into TENS machines and some breathing techniques.

I was very against an epidural and had done hypnotherapy etc to help manage the pain but after being hooked up to the drip when I was induced my god did I need it. Keep your options open would be my recommendation as things don't always go to plan x

I had a water birth which meant that I wasn’t ‘allowed’ any other pain relief, apart from gas and air. I was in a MLU so the only other option really was pethidine (or diamorphine) but you can’t have it in the pool.
I remember cursing my decision to have a water birth at the MLU at around 7/8cm and swearing that I should have gone to the ‘proper’ hospital so that I could have had an epidural. HOWEVER the midwife reminded me of the positives of being at the MLU (seriously the place was like a spa!) and I had the baby with ‘no pain relief’ and it was fine.

If I have another I will either go ‘all natural’ in the MLU again or have an ELCS (long story!).

Remember that the amount of pain relief you have in labour is not an indication of your worth as a human or mother. It truly, truly doesn’t matter to anyone but you.

I didn’t have any. I was curious about the gas and air but too lazy to waddle over to where it was on the side of the room.

Trust me - I’m not one of those ‘oh I can’t possibly have any drugs during birth’ - I just didn’t feel I needed it. I rarely take painkillers.

In order of preference:

1 Hypnobirthing and Birthing pool
2 Tens machine
3 Gas & air
4 Remifentanil (if offered)
5 Epidural

When I gave birth to DC1 I didn't really have adequate pain relief so with DC2 I won't hesitate if I feel that I need it. I do think if you end up having interventions you may well need pain relief.

Epidural.Nothing else works.

(I used hypnobirthing-ish as I was a trained HB practitioner back then - therapists are the worst patients though)

I wasn’t keen on an epidural. I was induced. I’d been up all night, then hooked to the drip. The contractions were intense to say the least. I was begging for an epidural! After 3 failed attempts I gave up. I delivered him with nothing. So it’s possible, think it’s your mindset. Just take what you need, when you feel you need it. Best way!

I had gas and air and pethidine - was begging for an epidural but couldn’t have one as there “wasn’t enough time” 😩

Gas and air made me feel drunk but did very little for the pain. Pethidine was brilliant and I even fell asleep at one point but it does wear off pretty quickly.

I love a bit of pethidine.

I had a 41 hour labour with DD who had managed to wriggle herself into an awkward position. I did the first 28 with paracetamol, tens and gas and air. Paracetamol did bugger all but the tens and gas and air was brilliant. When it became obvious that my labour wasn't progressing I was moved from the MLU to the ward and given a drip and pethidine. I hated pethidine. I was so set on having an active birth and not birthing on my back. The pethidine, in theory, would allow for "active monitoring" the only problem was it made me like bambi on ice and very sick. Next time I won't be taking that. I eventually had an epidural as I was taken to theatre. I was so insistent that I didn't want one as it would stop me moving around.

When I have my next baby I'll be asking if there's options between gas and air and the epidural that isn't pethidine. Definitely research all your options OP and remember it's a birth plan - DD had certainly not read my plan 🤦

I would recommend keeping an open mind and being open to all options as you don't know how your labour will go. I found a tens machine really helpful in early labour. I really wanted to avoid an epidural too and had pethidine, gas and air and used the birth pool. Pethedine made me sick but i found the water and gas and air helped initially. After 36 hours I had an epidural and I really wish I hadnt let myself suffer for so long when I really didnt need too. I think its great to make a birth plan but remember it is just an ideal and can be far removed from reality.

Echo others about keeping an open mind.

I wanted a birth with minimal pain relief (needle phobia, not bravery!!) and ended up with an induction and didn't have an epidural until day 4.... wish I'd listened to the midwife who told me when I was booked in to keep an open mind! Felt like I'd suffered unnecessarily!

I agree with keeping an open mind. But I found with my first two labours gas and air really helped. For my third I didn’t have anything and he was 10lb4! I think just go with what you need and that the most important thing is having a healthy mum and baby at the end of it all.

I had gas and air which is great in early labour, then akin to eating a sweet to try and cure a migraine. I was induced on the drip which took aaaages to get going, all night in fact, and then it suddenly ramped up in the morning. It was so painful I begged for whatever I could have immediately. Ended up with pethidine which made me totally out of it and wore off in time to push, which was also flipping agony. I wish I'd demanded an epidural when I was still coping. My main advice would be that if you feel like you're just about coping and you know you have a way to go - ask for stronger painkillers. If I ever had a VB again I'd be writing EPIDURAL in fluorescent glitter pen on my birth plan and asking for one as soon as I got to hospital!

I also agree have an open mind and, really importantly, try to approach it as positively as possible. I really believe your mindset counts for a lot.
With DC1 I had an epidural, it was recommended because I had high blood pressure. I wasn’t sure I needed it but actually - was liquid gold! Not only did it take away pain but it allowed my to rest and store up energy for pushing. I actually think I wouldn’t have been able to deliver myself without it.
DC2 there was no time for an epidural or anything other than gas or air. Was much more intense, but over more quickly and again, was a text book birth in terms of delivery.
By all means, have a loose plan and an idea of what you would like to happen, but don’t be too rigid!

I had nothing with DC1 and a birth pool for DC2. I didn't have a fixed plan for pain relief, but more a list of "in the event of x, I will do y". With DC1 my plan was have gas and air when the pain got worse than bad period pains, but by the time the contractions got more painful than my worst (admittedly terrible) period pains, I was pushing a baby out.

I think its worth reading/ listening to lots of birth stories and seeing what worked and didn't work for different people and thinking about what you would want if you were in the same situation.

No one gives you a medal for doing it without pain relief.

Next time I'll be asking for an epidural but hopefully light enough so I can still feel what's happening and still move around a bit!

Cannot recommend a TENS machine enough. I didn't have one with my first but had this for my second and evangelically preach about them. Needs to be one intended for labour from a midwife/maternity ward but it was fantastic. Got to roll through the pain. I really found a big Pilates ball good at the beginning. I think it helps to accept the pain, so it washes over you & through you, not resisting it. The TENS helps you manage it. Also moving around as much as possible in the early stages.

Definitely agree with pp that an open mind is the right thing, it can take different courses. And there are definitely no medals (there bloody should be).

Thanks for all your responses so far, I find it really helpful to hear all your different stories, in a weird way it makes me feel a bit less nervous about it all!

Have a very loose plan. Every birth is different, every person experiences it differently! I found it long, hard and painful but you know it's going to end and there will be a baby! I've had 2 long labours, one with emergency section and one natural. Never took any painkillers, just used gas and air, which helped me breath through it all, I found getting into a zone a lot of the time helped, during a contraction just focus on breathing, listen to hypnobirthing (some of it sounds silly pre-labour but during labour being told you are a strong and powerful woman is great! ha ha!) After each contraction have someone trained to offer water with a straw immediately......(my husband wasn't well enough trained!) In my first labour I gave up on the hypnobirthing and just squeezed husbands hand really hard each time, that was not a good way.....second time round I mostly ignored him ( except for water!) and just listened to the tapes, breathed and thought...wont be much longer! Good luck!

I always wanted an epidural - the midwives tried to talk me out of it so i had gas and air and a dip in the pool, but after 20 hours the gas stopped helping, i felt loopy and out of control and sick (threw up twice) and it really fucking hurt, and i got scared. I absolutely did not want to be scared when i met my daughter. Cue epidural!

It was brilliant. I got to control how much i took. All the pain stopped within 20 minutes, i had a rest and a nap and watched the rugby and when it was time to push i dialled back the pain relief so i could feel the contractions, but no pain, and i pushed for two hours. I felt nothing but tiredness, and it was honestly the most powerful, incredible experience of my life. Because i wasn't in pain i felt totally in control and rational, i felt empowered and excited and utterly jubilant, even when they got the forceps out. It was amazing. Epidural every single time.