Did you give birth without epidural?

[SunnySideUp2020]

Please tell me about it!!!!

How was it honestly? How was the labor?

Had my first last year and although I had planned a natural birth, when active labor hit I begged for an epidural. It was a low dose one but I felt like I was dying without.

Expecting the second this October. Am I crazy for considering trying without epidural?

The reason is where I want to give birth they don't do epidural. It's not in the UK. It's a birth house in swizterland where I live. The other option is hospital...

Did it once (only DC) and cannot recommend. My DC was back to back which didn’t help. I begged for pain relief at one point, but it was way too late for an epidural and the doctor was so negative about the pethidene injection, which was the only other option, that I just kept on enduring.

I don’t feel any sense of satisfaction from not having pain relief and would choose differently if I ever had another (not happening).

Gas and only with both DC, but very quick labours, no time for any other painkillers!

Gas and air only

I had both mine without epidural - would have loved one, especially the second time. But the midwives said no and that was that. The benefit of not having one is that you can get up and move around pretty much straight afterwards, have a shower etc, and go home sooner (I think), but I would have liked to have felt it a bit less :)

I have 3 children, all with just gas and air.
My first labour was horrendous.
The second was horrendous for very different reasons which had nothing to do with pain relief (almost lost her) the pain relief side was much easier though
The third was pish posh, despite him being 10lb 10.5oz. 2 pushes and he was out. Your body learns what it's doing and it gets easier i believe.

Two births without epidurals, first time round 12 and a half hours, had gas and air and pethidine (which I regret), and second was 24 hours (although a bit stop-start) and just gas and air. Was hard work but go through it! They were both small bubbas though, 6lb 13 and 4lb 3.

Yes it was really OK. I mean it was sore but it was nice to feel in control and recovery was very fast.

I’ve never had any form of pain relief unfortunately. Not even gas and air. I seem to go more or less straight to ten cm without much warning and then it’s all too late. The first time I went into labour on my own. It was manageable if a bit scary. The second time I was induced with pitocin and again no pain relief. That was much worse.
I don’t really think women should be putting pressure on themselves to go without pain relief. You don’t get any medals. If you do I’m still waiting for mine.

I had two labours with just gas and air. For the first labour it felt manageable. For the second it was horrific but I couldn’t have an epidural because I’d been diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. I asked for anything and the only thing they could offer me was pethadine, but advised against it because they said it would make baby drowsy. I was too in pain to argue. HOWEVER as horribly painful as it was, it did end. I did get there and then the pain was gone. So it depends I suppose on whether you’re willing to put yourself through something like that for the other benefits you’ll gain.

Yes twice. It was fine, gas and air worked well for me.

Also, I didn’t have a break between contractions. Just one after another after another for 8 hours. I didn’t know this was a thing until I experienced it and subsequently found out it’s not all that uncommon. Basically, you don’t know what you’re going to get and you can’t predict your own experience from other people’s stories.

Absolutely just do whatever you feel most comfortable/secure doing. If that’s an epidural then do it; ditch the birth house (nice idea, but not essential) and give birth in hospital. You won’t care afterwards, as long as you have both been taken good care of.

DC1 was a long labour and my epidural was an absolute blessed relief.

DC2 and DC3 were much shorter and I was fine with just gas and air.

I had my first without epidural. Had gas and air for contractions but progressed too fast to pushing for the epidural I wanted and they wouldn't let me have gas and air for it so had nothing for the pushing. The contractions was worse than the pushing in my opinion but gas and air reallt worked for me and took the edge off. I also have quite a high pain threshold.

I'd say if yiu want to try but don't feel ashamed or anything if you feel you can't cope. Be open minded esp if labour is long and drawn out.

I gave birth without an epidural op, it wasn't the funnest thing in the world but it was doable. I had gas and air with both(until the last hour when it was just more of an inconvenience). With my DS I was screaming for pethidine about 5 minutes before he was born, so obviously didn't get any 😅 but would have happily took it!

Oh and DS was an induced birth, so it was a bit more painful than my first which might be why I was wanting the pethidine.

Similar to this. Both births were pretty quick so whilst it was painful, I didn’t have to put up with it for long and didn’t get to the stage where I was thinking about an epidural. It was too intense too quickly and then it was over. For first birth it wasn’t as short but gas and air did the trick.

Back to back birth.
Majority of labour on gas and air but 7cm onwards had to have an epidural as pain was no longer manageable.
Pain free bliss, no regrets.
I didn't have any problems after the birth or with the epidural, it worked for me pretty quickly.
Second baby I would like to try gas and air again, but if its back to back I will request an epidural.

I had two pretty quick and luckily straightforward labours that were totally manageable with gas and air. It didn’t at any point cross my mind to ask for any other pain relief. I was completely off my head on gas and air to be honest. As soon as I felt a contraction beginning I would just puff and puff and puff on the stuff until I felt so lightheaded I had no idea what was going on. I was on another planet, saying and imagining the craziest things (I genuinely believed I’d turned into a cow at one point) but then once you stop puffing you feel completely normal again in between contractions.

I was induced with the pessary and then waters broken. Once contractions started Labour was pretty quick, waters broken at 1pm and had DD at 6.30pm with a bit of gas n air during the last hour and afterwards when I was having stitches.

I couldn't cope with the pain with DC1, had epidural, everything slowed down, ended up with C section. With DC2, I had just gas and air and I'm convinced it was no less painful than DC1, but I was determined to avoid a section if I could (because of the impracticalities re lifting up toddler / not driving etc and because I'd found it hard to bond with DC1 initially) and was sure the epidural had contributed to the slowdown that time, and think my determination made all the difference. Yes it was painful at times but I coped and am glad I did and felt really "powerful" that I'd done it (and there was newfound respect from DH as well, as he'd been convinced I'd end up following same pattern as DC1). If you were having a hospital birth, I'd say go for it - go in aiming to do without but don't berate yourself if you end up having one. We all have different pain thresholds and no one else can know for certain what your labour will be like and until it happens you won't know how it will compare to your first. But if the location you chose don't offer it and if needed you'd have to be transferred mid-labour to a hospital then personally I'm not sure I'd make that choice - but doesn't mean it's the wrong choice.

In case of an issue with me or baby we would be transferred to a hospital. There is nothing on site. Just a house and experienced midwifes!

I think I need to give birth in hospital because I want to have the option of the epidural at least. And with the complications after my first birth (which were quite intense and scary tbh, even for my midwife she admitted later!)

Thinking back at my labor pains also, I think it would exhaust me to go through it without pain relief. And then I have an 18m old and a newborn to look after :(

But I might look into hiring a doula actually to feel more secure in hospital and have someone advocate for me in case my DH has to stay with our DD.

@ChateauMargaux I am in Zurich! I do speak French though so will have a look, thanks!

I did without for my first. I mean, I hate medical stuff so for me it was no question. But I had to have a section with my twins so now I'm going to be monitored for this next birth and they won't let me in the pool which saved me last time. But I'd go for the clinic without it, if it's not available, you can't have it and taking away the choice sort of means you've got to do it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Two with and one without. However, I have to say that the birth without epidural, was short uncomplicated and pain free - had it been painful like the other two I would have been screaming out for an epidural for that one too.

Yes, 3 times. Just gas and air. Each time they said it was too late for an epidural. I seemed to progress to stage 3 quickly. It was manageable. It has left DH eternally in awe of what women do. I don't think I had bad deliveries- no episiotomies.

I just had pethidine and gas and air with my second. It was totally different. The pain was different, my ability to cope was different and the birth went much more quickly and smoothly. I did wonder if your body is just better able to perform the second time round as it just went much more smoothly. FWIW I just went with how I was feeling at the time. I think if the birth progresses quickly you may not need it.