Pethidine- your experiences

[Luckyelephant1]

Hi, I'm FTM 37 weeks and finalising my birth plan, specifically pain relief options.

My ideal birth would be paracetamol, Tens, be very mobile and upright and then to be in a birthing pool in an MLU just using gas and air, breathing techniques etc. Of course I know that may not be the reality and I may need something stronger, especially if I need to be induced, or if labour ends up being ridiculously long, etc.

My hospital uses Pethidine as their main opioid painkiller. I can't decide whether to accept Pethidine or go straight to an epidural. I'm kind of leaning away from Pethidine as I don't want to feel totally spaced out and out of control which I've heard is common, and I'm the kind of person who hates feeling out of control. At least with gas and air if you feel spaced out you just stop using it, whereas you can't reverse Pethidine once administered. However I know that midwives can adminster this in an MLU which is a major pro, whereas obviously with an epidural you need to be on the delivery suite (my MLU is attached so I guess that's not the worst thing, but it's just the change in environment etc that might disrupt my flow).

I'd rather not have either as I want to remain as mobile as possible, but interested to hear other people's experiences with Pethidine. Would I be silly to decline it and go straight for an epidural? Did you still feel very spaced out after delivery? Etc...

I felt sick from it and quite spaced out but I would deffo have it again. I didnt want an epidural so this was a good alternative for me.

I hated pethedine. I was really struggling and had a half dose of it. All it did was make me fall asleep between contractions, literally as soon as one finished I was gone, and woken up by the pain of the next a minute or so later. So I never got any relief from the pain.

It didn't make the pain any less, it just made me so out of it, when they were desperately trying to keep me awake, that I couldn't take in what was going on or communicate that I was still in unbearable pain and needed something else.

I don't mean to scare you, I just want to get across that it just made me very scared, very confused, and didn't help with the pain!

I had a spinal block, and I could have kissed the anaesthetist! Honestly, it was like a switch flipping. Suddenly I could understand what was going on, listen to people talking to me, and tell people what i needed and was straight back in control. So much so, that the emcs that I'd had the spianl block for, wasn't necessary.

I wish I'd asked for an epidural right at the start, it would have made such a difference.

Absolutely loved pethidine almost worth going through Labour for... can also make baby sleepy .. but what's not to love.. seemed to affect mine all for years as they were all great sleepers from day 1 .. pethidine ALL the way for me. !

Your plan was the same as mine. DD had other ideas though and passed merconium in utero so I couldn't have water birth as needed to be constantly monitored. I spent a lot of time bouncing on a huge ball with gas and air. Gas and air didn't do anything for the Pain whatsoever but did give me something to concentrate on and to focus my breathing. The noise of breathing in and out was quite soothing. Dunno why.
Baby's heart rate dropped scarily low a few times and got in distress and they moved me off the ball onto the bed, lying was v uncomfortable. Sitting in "throne" was even worse. Agony.
I went from 3cm to 10'in an hour and dd was back to back (unbeknownst until right at the end) and after pushing for about 10 mins we were rushed into theatre where I had forceps.

Recovery was absolutely fine. Once I got I to theatre I relaxed so much, I felt so safe and everyone was happy and smiley and chatty so I relaxed. Had spinal block cited which wasn't that bad at all (and I was needle phobic prior to pregnancy). Then she was delivered so much quicker than I expected.

Her birth was described as traumatic in our notes but we were both fine

Good luck, go with the flow, make sure your partner knows your preferences (not plan) and will advocate for you.

You'll smash it no matter the circumstances

I had pethidine for my first delivery. It wasn't a very good experience for me. I ended up being given it only a few hours before birth so my baby was sleepy and struggled to feed. I couldn't really get him to latch properly in hospital and it didn't improve at home with no guidance.
As for me, I was completely out of it. I couldn't open my eyes at all. I remember hearing midwives really shout at me and shake me when they needed me to turn or answer something. I also pissed the bed! I remember thinking I really need a wee, then I just did, full bladder. I was too out of it to ask for a bed pan. I also vomited a few times.

My two subsequent labours were very quick and I just had gas and air. I much preferred that. In fact, my second baby was born in an ambulance it was that quick, and that was my best labour!

Pethedine was the worst! Started with tens machine and gas and air but I was being induced an contractions for hours on end with no sleep were killing me so the next step was pethidine. It did absoloutly fuck all for the pain and made me immensely sick. I was totally spaced out but majorly still in pain and constantly throwing up. It was a real bad time. My fiance said it was the worst experiencing being so helpless whilst I was going through that. When I finally started getting it out if my system and finally upgraded to an epidural I was in bliss. I could actually smile again and talk rather than being in a void of puke and agony. Never again!!!!

@Northernsoullover

I loved Pethidine. It was the best part of labour . I was absolutely off my tree and I totally get why that may not appeal to everyone.

Me too. I read an imaginary newspaper from cover to cover!

I had no Pethidine in my birth plan. I wanted an epidural.
I had 1 shot Pethidine on midwife advice as I was panicking (fast labour with almost continuous contractions from the start). It was bloody lovely, just felt relaxed and calmer and got my breathing back.
I never got the epidural! Anesthetist wasn’t available and I progressed too fast.

It’s good to be open to all things but understand them all too. We didn’t want opiates as I had GD and was already at rusk of sleepy baby due to sugars. But the Pethidine was timed well to have worn off before delivery.
No regrets here!

I had Pethidine with my first - awful experience. I was totally off my head and had the most awful banging sound in my ears. I really thought I was going completely mad.
Needless to say I didn't have a repeat performance with my second.

Pethidine did nothing for my pain. However it have heard good reports from other people about it.

Meptid did absolutely nothing for me, but that may have been due to a back-to-back labour.
In my second labour, I had pethidine (arrived too late for an epidural at 7cm!) It really took the edge off.

This thread is making me wish I could have Pethidine (just to try) :-). Being as I am well past child bearing there would have to be another reason so.....maybe not. It does sound good though.

I had a shot of pethidine on day 4 of a very long stop-start labour with my first. I was exhausted and desperate to get some sleep. They warned me that it would make me feel dozy and spaced out and I might not be aware of everything going on around me… it literally had no effect on me. None whatsoever. I was able to continue walking around, talking, breathing etc. exactly as before. No change to the pain level, no wooziness or nausea or anything. No idea why because I’m usually a lightweight with stuff like alcohol, I get sick from the birth control pill, etc.

But I do think it might have helped to regulate the contractions a bit/make them more efficient (don’t know if that’s possible) because baby finally arrived later that night. She was fine, latched well and wasn’t unusually dozy or anything. I think she arrived about 4 hours after the shot so maybe it was already out of our systems by then.

Such a mixed bag of experiences! I'm just gonna have to go with the flow. Hoping my labour is straightforward and I can cope with just the pool and gas and air. Still thinking I'd rather have epidural than peth though. I'm the type that (pre-pregnancy of course) always pukes when I'm hungover, feels sick with one cigarette, gets migraines now and then, etc, so even though I know opiates are completely different I have a feeling peth would make me feel horrendous and sick too. But let's see! Thanks for all the responses x

My labour lasted 38 long hours. By 24 hours I was so exhausted I had pethidine. It made me drowsy, I slept in between contractions, ten min power naps for a whole night but it was better than nothing at all. It isn't a painkiller, it just makes you drowsy, and that is what they give it for. DS was also drowsy for 12 hours after birth.
Active labour wasn't a thing when I had DS, it wasn't even mentioned. I hate not being in control and for that reason I hated the birthing pool and being told to "lie and back and relax" when I wanted my feet on the ground and felt anything but in control of my contractions at that point. They had just burst my waters and my contractions suddenly ramped up ten fold. Getting into a birthing pool at that point threw me because I lost my breathing and I was just gasping and then panicking.

Hated it. Felt like (what I imagine feels like) being on heroin, all floppy and spaced out but felt every bit of the pain still.

Pethidine is evil stuff.
I felt stoned and threw up solidly for hours.
Can't remember any pain on the plus side though!
But I forgot huge chunks of labour!

The only thing I can remember about having Pethidine is scrabbling around in a bowl of my own vomit for the unabsorbed tablet they'd just given me in case I needed a CS ( I did). Knocked newborn ds out for a good couple of days after too.

Next two deliveries were gas and air. Nowhere near as trippy.

I had pethidine with my first.

The plus points: I was getting tired and it sent me to sleep for an hour.
It certainly numbed my brain a bit
I could still remain active and it wore off quickly after birth

The down sides:
I felt off my tree from the second it was injected
I vomited over the midwife
Baby was very sleepy on being born and we struggled with jaundice for the first few days as she didn’t feed enough

On balance, I’m not sure if I would have it again, mainly because of the effects it had on the baby on birth... however, it was a great pain relief and a happy medium when labour was tough. I would prefer to avoid it next rime, but I would 100% take it over an epidural

@Northernsoullover ha I loved the Pethadine as well 😂. Think my husband was a bit jealous he didn’t get to try some. I still ended up having an epidural as well though, I have a very low pain threshold and baby was back to back.

Pethidine sounds quite cool! Too late for me now. I wouldn't have wanted it while giving birth, I remember it was offered and I turned it down (but I would like to try).

Epidural without a doubt.
Iean, we all go in thinking just gas and air don't we? I was shocked at how painful contractions were and was scared of every single one of them coming

Epidural was fantastic although it didn't work so well for me, I got an hour or so absolutely pain free bliss. Then had to go back to gas and air.
Paracetamol will not do a thing!

@SillyBry just to maybe reassure you a little...the jaundice sleep thing is soooo common. Happened to me too and I felt horrendous about it all but after reading others experiences it does just seem to be something some babies have. The jaundice makes them tired so they can't feed and not feeding makes then weak and sleepy. A bad circle.

An epidural has far more complications and after effects than pethidine. Honestly, I think you'd be a bit silly to jump straight to an epidural without trying other things first.

I've had both.

Epidural first time round. Was lovely. I hadn't slept for 30 hours and was making slow progress. The epidural let me sleep a bit while I made the last couple of cm. The pushing phase was fine. I could feel my contractions but they were only about as painful as Braxton Hicks and I was able to push calmly.

Second time, I was also knackered due to my baby's position not pushing on the cervix properly. Pethidine was lovely. It gave me that lovely cosy feeling where you're reading a book and your eyes are so heavy and sleepy. It wore off by pushing time about 90 mins later and I had gas and air for delivery.