Giving birth

[maria1995xxx]

Hi I was wondering how bad the cramping is during contractions and the pushing stage. Like will I still be able to breathe if I didn't use gas and air? How many of you think it's made you neauseous? Also regarding epidural I don't think I want one because it can make you not know when to push etc I've heard anyway. This is my first baby and I want it all to be as natural as possible but with a good understanding of pain too.

I think you need to do a lot of research.
You've posted a lot asking a lot of different questions. A lot of which is searchable online like midwife appointments and scans ect.

The pain varies person to person. As does the time pushing and the length of labour itself.

My first was 50 hours labour altogether and 28 minutes pushing.
My second was 10 hours labour and 42 minutes pushing.

Gas and air made me throw up.

The "Cramping" during pushing is just normal contractions throughout your whole labour.

There's lots it doesn't sound like you've thought through like possible tearing ect.

All depends on people's own pain thresholds too.

Nobody can tell you as every labour is different

@LadyBillyBon

I think you need to do a lot of research. You've posted a lot asking a lot of different questions. A lot of which is searchable online like midwife appointments and scans ect.

The pain varies person to person. As does the time pushing and the length of labour itself.

My first was 50 hours labour altogether and 28 minutes pushing.
My second was 10 hours labour and 42 minutes pushing.

Gas and air made me throw up.

The "Cramping" during pushing is just normal contractions throughout your whole labour.

There's lots it doesn't sound like you've thought through like possible tearing ect.

I'm feeling a bit lonely through the whole process so thought I would join this forum today 🙈 thank you for your advice

I had a very long Labour with my first, over 30 hours... eventually he was born after an episiotomy and 2.5 hours of pushing..

Number 2 I had a water birth, it was lovely! Pushing him out was quick but horrifically painful as I tore and had no pain relief but that 30 seconds was nothing! I loved my labour with him!

I did hypnobirthing which really helped! And I just trusted in my body..when my body was telling to bear down with a contraction I did instead of fighting it! Was much easier and meant each contraction was almost a relief!

Gas and air didn't make me sick but diamorphine did!

First birth....didn't realise I was having contractions for a while. Just thought I had a bit of a back ache. Got to 4cm without really realising. In the pool and on gas and air. Thought labour was great (until it all went tits up).

Second birth. Was all ready with my hypnobirthing classes. Contractions kicked in so suddenly out of nowhere that I couldn't cope. Baby was in distress with every contraction, I wasn't coping at all and was begging the midwives to do anything to put me out of my misery.

All births are different. Nobody can tell you what your pain will be like. I think it's important to be open minded to all options and possibilities.

Didn’t have any gas and air as not really used in this country. Was fine without anything tbh. Light cramps started 8am ish, baby born 4pm. 8lb8

Epidural is the best invention ever and I had no issues with pushing.

If you don't need one - great. But many arguments against it that you hear are not based on science. Which says that modern epidurals do not increase risks off assisted delivery, and have no impact on the risk of caesarean section or long-term backache, neonatal status as determined by Apgar scores or in admissions to neonatal intensive care. They do provide pain relief and increase mother's satisfaction with birth experience.

www.cochrane.org/CD000331/PREG_epidurals-pain-relief-labour?fbclid=IwAR163KzHWmF6J0HSjT3hqAHLfUWLkVSV3P3Zgd4u-Fcy17b1h4cpMng36f0

I highly recommend the positive birthing company digital course. For preparation for any kind of birth!

Gas and air didn't make me at all nauseous and made my first labour very manageable. Would have been making it unnecessarily hard to have not used it I think. Second time round is easier so I mainly just breathed through the contractions but a bit of gas and air helped. Both times I got to transition on just paracetamol though - if all is straight-forward it really is okay until the pushing stage. Pushing is bloody tiring and I found it painful, but it's a short time really even if you push for a while iyswim.

I had no expectations with my birth I just wanted us both to be safe

I went to hospital at 9cm dilated! The contractions were not that bad
Baby was stuck with cord around her neck so was prepped for forceps with the possibility of a C section which I didn't need!

Everyone is different! What matters is you and your baby are safe
Personally I would not worry too much about sticking to a specific birth plan as anything can happen
I did have gas and air and I did not get nausea from it epidural does stop you feeling the need to push but the midwives will let you know when to! I did not get the urge to push as mine was stuck anyway so made no difference to me
I was also cut from the surgeon so I didn't tear which I'm glad about as my sister ripped from front to back 😳

My first baby was 6 hours from the first 'hmm was that a twinge' to delivery. The contractions are like bad period pain and can physically put you on your knees as the deep muscles take over (to be honest on your knees is a really good birth position as it is easy to push baby in that position). In between contractions there is no pain, so you get to recover before the next one. The urge to push is unmistakable (not unlike the other reason you might want to push down there 😉). I had no pain relief except ten minutes if gas and air at the end, I would have been fine without. I have a high pain threshold and there were no complications, everyone is different.
My advice would be to put yourself somewhere/with someone so you feel as safe and relaxed as possible, that helps labour go well, and just listen to your body it knows what it's doing even though you don't. 😊

What I never understood before childbirth (despite attending numerous antenatal classes!) was that the contractions are the most painful part (for me at least!). I sort of just assumed from TV and movies that it was the pushing out part that was sore. So blimey was I in for a shock with those!

I was already feeling nauseous before I got to the hospital (I threw up twice). I didn't have gas and air partly because of that but I mostly didn't have it because I couldn't deal with the admin/logistics of it because I was in such a flap with everything else going on. I thought I didn't want an epidural either but I was begging for it by the time I got to the hospital. In the end I couldn't have it because the baby came too quickly but I will definitely try to get one next time around.

When I was pregnant in the first lockdown I watched these YouTube videos -

They are birthing classes which explain each stage of labour in depth, I found them so helpful to know what to expect. I also did the positive birth companies hypnobirthing classes.

My best advice for you is to be as open minded as possible. Lots of first time mothers have this idea that they're going to have this beautiful natural drug free birth, no tears, no stitches, no complications. The reality is often very very different. Don't rule anything out as you just don't know how you're going to cope.

My first birth I had an epidural, episiotomy and stitches. Second birth I had nothing other than a tens machine and gas & air. So in theory I could give birth without an epidural, but during my first birth I felt like I wanted one, so I had one. And that's because every birth is completely different.

Keep an open mind and do whatever you need to do to get through your birth. You won't win any medals for going "drug free" and then looking back at your experience with horror and and wishing you'd just accepted it.

Up to 8cms I could breathe through contractions (not sure after that as had epidural). Gas and air can make you feel like you are drunk with the room spinning and nausea but the great thing about it is the feeling (and the pain relief unfortunately) goes pretty quick if you stop puffing on it for a bit, I just slowed down every time I felt a bit woozy. I don't know about the pushing stage as unfortunately at 8cm my baby moved into a bad position and got distressed so I went on a syntocin drip to speed things up and had an epidural. I had to be told when to push (but had no pain at all) and needed ventouse. This time I'd like to just have just gas and air (when needed) but if things get complicated again I'll have another epidural.

Both of my births were very fast.
For both I just used gas and air towards the end.
I knew I didn't want an epidural (and I felt drs would be too slow to administer anyway as I birth quickly) and for some reason I felt that all other pain relief options wouldn't work anyway so I just sort of "hung on"

Gas and air for me made me feel like I was almost falling asleep but not quite and also quite light-headed. Although I don't think it's pain relief in itself as I still felt contractions, it somehow makes you feel distracted from the pain and also for me made time go faster as I was "out of it" so to speak.

Birth IS painful and you spend some time wondering how on earth you're going to live through any more contractions but somehow it's all over at some point and by the time you're considering your next baby, you've forgotten exactly what labour feels like.

Basically it stings like a bitch. You'll not know how you'll cope until you get there so stay open minded about options.

If you have an induction and the hormone drip the epidural will be your best friend, contractions are much worse with the drip than natural onset and it made me vomit.
I had slow labor with our 2nd of 6 days from being 1cm dilated, they took G&A off me for the pushing stage. He was 10lb 12oz and took 15 mins! to push out as his shoulders got a bit stuck, midwife had to catch him like a fast ball when he finally popped out lol. Our 3rd I dealt with the pain pretty well until I was around 8cm, then they broke my waters and the pain increased tenfold. She was out 11mins after they were broken though. After the 1st push she was crowning and the pain completely stopped which I found really weird then another 2 pushes and she was out.

Early contractions for me felt like period pain - wasn't even sure I was in Labour. They escalated quickly though to long cramps like the worst period pain I'd had and then quickly went beyond that. For me, it felt like intense pressure - it was painful but I was surprised that the pain felt more pressure than anything else. I got by with gas and air in the birthing pool at hospital - although I did ask for more pain relief at transition stage as I suddenly felt I was losing it but it quickly got back on track. Gas and air didn't make me sick at all - I was worried about this and midwife showed me how to avoid the sick dizzy feeling by ensuring I closed my eyes during using it and kept them
Closed for a moment once the contraction ended. Only opening them when I felt "back in the room" fully. It worked for me. I'd been to a few different birthing classes and used the breathing techniques all the time, combining the deep breathing with inhaling the gas and air during a contraction. It kept me calm and distracted.

During pushing stage I had to ditch the gas and air as I needed to focus on pushing. I had to push for about 2 hours. When it got to pushing stage the contractions kind of changed and whilst it still hurt it was more productive - I could literally feel my uterus contracting and pushing the baby down. Bloody hard work though!

I didn't have gas and air or an epidural and it was OK. I spent most of my labour at home, walking up and down, went into hospital after waters broke. Two and a half hours later my baby was born so it wasn't too bad. I wanted to experience it all so I did. Best to stay on your feet for as long as possible.

I was in so much pain I was trying to chew my arm off, sweating, panting and not really sure where I was. A few minutes after a lovely, lovely anaesthetist paid a visit and set up my epidural, I was happily reading my book, bouncing on the ball and chatting to the midwife. If I had any more, I would not even try without, I really don't care about pain if there are options to not be in pain.

[quote G5000]Epidural is the best invention ever and I had no issues with pushing.

If you don't need one - great. But many arguments against it that you hear are not based on science. Which says that modern epidurals do not increase risks off assisted delivery, and have no impact on the risk of caesarean section or long-term backache, neonatal status as determined by Apgar scores or in admissions to neonatal intensive care. They do provide pain relief and increase mother's satisfaction with birth experience.

www.cochrane.org/CD000331/PREG_epidurals-pain-relief-labour?fbclid=IwAR163KzHWmF6J0HSjT3hqAHLfUWLkVSV3P3Zgd4u-Fcy17b1h4cpMng36f0[/quote]
Oh my god, thank you so much for this post!! Why some midwives try so hard to deny women epidurals I don't know. This is great information to be educate ourselves with.

I’ve had two nice births (no tearing, foreceps etc) but the 2nd was far more ‘productive’ in that every pain seemed to do the job it was supposed to do. I was in a ‘use it’ mentality, honestly, almost like I was trying to orgasm which is extremely weird... but it made dialation happen. I’d love to have a third, just to see if that’s genuinely true, or whether every birth is indeed just different!

The contractions at the end hurt like buggery. I couldn't cope with gas and air (too complicated) and didn't want an epidural (not being brave, just would prefer to be in pain than throwing up). But when you start to push, the contraction pain changes and becomes more bearable. It did for me, anyway.

I thought I was going to have a nice drug free birth. My contractions were so bad I was vomiting at 2cm dilated while in the birthing pool (they let me in early because I was in so much pain). I wasn’t getting a break from the pain between contractions, it was constant. At 3cm I was begging for an epidural. By the time they got round to assessing me for it I was 8cm (only a few hours later) and it was too late but I ended up needing a C section anyway. On the other end of the scale, my friend had no idea she was in labour until around 8cm. Every birth is different so it is hard to say how it’s going to be. Best thing to do is arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible.

You just gave to keep an open mind, because every birth is different.

With my first, I woke up at 3.30am having an agonising contraction and they didn't get any less painful. Baby ended up in distress, anaesthetics were busy so no epidural, and I ended up pushing for 90 mins and with a 3rd degree tear. The pain made me almost black out.

2nd, I had a nice gentle start, an epidural after a few hours, and a wonderful experience.