1st time birth: Do I want an Epidural?

[ThePFJ]

Am writing my birth plan, and the only thing my midwife says at the moment is that the epidural is choosen by 41% of births - mostly first time mums, and that it will decrease my urge to push.

I am thinking perhaps maybe gas and air could get me through, I don't want any other pain relief except a warm bath perhaps. But then I panic about the pain, and change my mind when I see people say how wonderful they felt after having the Epidural.

I know its up to me.. but does anyone have any experiences they could give me to help me decide please?

Any comments would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you thank you thank you xx

I had an elcs but my two friends who went natural had an epidural and said it was bliss. You need to see how you cope at the time as don't think you can book one in advance

I had an epidural first time round and it was wonderful. It took away all the worry about whether I would cope with the pain as there was none. Being able to think clearly and being in control was important to me and I felt in control with the epidural so it was a good choice for me.

It can decrease your urge to push but the midwife will tell you when you are having a contraction so you push on her say so. That bit wasn't a problem for me. My problem was that the contractions weren't as strong with the epidural so pushing was not as effective. I ended up needing something to strengthen them and I had forceps but who knows for sure how much of that is down to the epidural - I was very tired which I don't expect helped.

I didn't have anything at all second time around and it was wonderful but that was about 4.5 hours of labour and from the start of the pain until delivery was 21 hours first time round - I am not sure that I could have coped that long without epidural.

Best thing with a birth plan is to say what you definitely don't want and then just go with the flow about what you will have on the day. If you decide to go for the epidural, though, ask for one sooner rather than later so they have time to get the anaesthetist before you get too dilated to have one. You can always let it wear off if you don't like it.

I laboured for bout 19 hours without one and then was so tired I asked for one. It was sheer bliss!

I slept for about 3 hours (v bizarre when in full blown labour) and woke up to push - pushing was 18 minutes.

Definately don't say that your don't want one in your birth plan - I left it open and said I would decide if I wanted an epi or not on the actual day itself. The only thing I stated I DIDN'T want was pethadine and stuck with it (didn't want to feel 'out of control' mentally)

Basically, an epi numbs you from just below the boobs down, I could still wiggle my toes and shift my legs but that was it. It didn't hurt going in. You can feel the tightening sensation of the contraction but not the pain.

Personally though it was great although next time I am hoping for a shorter labour - I think the length of my labour was a major factor in having one!

oh yeah!!!!
unless you have one of those fabulous easy labours some women seem to have. I was dead against epi first time around, but open to it if needed. My dh ended up speaking on my behalf, lucky he knew what i needed

HONESTLY, gas and air does nothing if you are in absolute pain, neither does pethadine, they distract and relax you, but to me they are placebo drugs, my Ob and nurse friend agree on this.
I wish someone told me this first and even second time around.

GOOD LUCK it is so hard to plan, as you just don't know, so plan for everything good luck

Cool. I must say I think I agree with you girls on this one. Putting what I don't want on the plan and leaving it as open as possible seems like the best tactic too. I feel loads better about this now. Cheers xxx

pethidine and diamorphone do help... they relax you and can aid dilation. they are not placebos, they are real narcotic drugs ! they just don't numb the pain.

going from gas and air to epidural takes your birth on a whole different route. epidural requires an aneasthatist, a drip, more monitoring and can increase the chances of an instrumental delivery. the plus sides of course are that it can totally remove the pain, and allow you to rest.... it can also lower BP if there is an issue with that

all options for pain relief have pros and cons, best to think about it all now, and have a think about what would be best for you

if you do have an epi,then ask if your hospital do mobile epidurals, so you are not totally numb and can feel when to push as that is a helpful sensation

Pethidine I found to be marvellous. I had 2 injections one in the middle of the night so I could get some sleep which I did. I had another one just before ds was born. Gas and air was horrible.
Have you thought about a Tens machine? I couldn't have coped without it

you can ask for a mobile epidural. you still have some feeling, you know when to push and you can still give birth on hands and knees, which i found was the least painful.

God I get so broody reading threads lke this! Yes, am weirdo.

I had epi with DD 9first baby) after labouring for 21 hours - like wilkie I then slept - for 7 hours! This was comin up to 9 years ago now (eek) and it was acomplete block- I didn't feel the urge to push at all, the MW had to tell me when to push! I pushed for about an hour to get her out

DS - I had NO pain relief (but don't give me a medal, it was too quick - I said to MW "I need to push"
"well push then!"
"I Can't, I haven't had my epidural yet"
"there's no time"
"eeeeeeeeeeeeek"

BUT I only pushed for 5 minutes (obv have total bucket now)

Best advice..read up on the different drugs...what they can and cant do for you...remain open to offers and have someone with you who knows your plans and is willing to speak up on your behalf.

If the labour is particuarly long then epi is good but can slow down labour and increase the need for assistance. I had back to back with DD1 so grabbed the epi while I could but this alone caused problems and I ended up needing an assisted delivery. Gas and Air and Pethidine made me really sick before I opted for the Epi

Second time round I had nothing until an half hour efore I was ready to push. At that point the gas and air really did it's stuff. I then had half a shot of pethidine as I was pushing just to take the edge off. That was good too as it didn't make me at all woozy or had time to affect baby and within 15 minutes of giving birth I was having a shower.

baseline is I couldn't of had DD1 WITHOUT an Epi dispite the problems it caused.....

I had an epidural with DD. (first and only birth so far). I was so relaxed after it and had a rest and a sleep.

When it was time to push, I could feel my contractions (but no pain) and I knew when to push and told the midwife when I wanted to push.

Will def have another epidural when and if I'm preg again.

So excited for you!
It's hard to plan ahead because you really don't know what will happen on the day - just go with the flow.
I had an epidural with ds 8 and it was brill, but did slow things down somewhat.
I wanted the same with dd 14 months, however when the anaesthetist came in after being in theatre, the head was crowning! S no time! Did it with no pain relief and it was under 2 hrs from starting niggles to pushing her out.
Both were marvellous in their own way!
Love and best wishes x

Epidural - aaaahh bliss. Meant I could sleep having been on the go for 36 hours. Couldn't stand G&A although I know others love it.

Like you, I kept my options open - saying I would keep it as natural and drug free as long as possible, but in the end, was so pooped, just wanted some rest.

Read up on it and keep your options open.

I was dead against having an epidural...before being in full blown labour for 18 odd hours and only 2-3cm dilated! It was the absolute BEST decision I made - had a few hours sleep and it really speeded up my dilation (know that doesn't always happen). Once I was fully dilated they let the epidural wear off for 1 hour before I started pushing so I could feel contractions. Did my my BP plummet though but other than that - great!

thepfj - goo dluck to you.
i was dad set against an epi - for what exact reasons o dont know but i woudl say - keep an open mind. pain relief is there for a reason and i f you need it - take it.
like mamag - i ended up with no pain relief. not planned that way but things went much quicker than expected. i kinda felt cheated out of my quota of gas and air .

stay relaxed about it all. you and your body will do fine and it matters not a jot what you end up taking. our bodies are designed to do this thing - do not panic about the pain!

looking forward to reading your announcement and birth story!

I had one with DD it was bliss!

DS came out too quick so I didn't get to have one - I did scream the whole way through 'I want an epidural' - well until the midwife told me it wouldn't do me much good as I had already had the baby! - Thats how much I wanted one!

I think you can only make the decision when you are actually in labour. In your birth plan, I would leave the epidural as an option and see how you go.

It is all different for different people and people also respond to the different pain relief things differently. You just can't tell until you do it. People progress at different rates etc, I would just see how it goes.

Hi PFJ

You can't really answer that question until you are there experiencing the pain. Labour is a bizarre type of pain, it obviously comes in waves (contractions), so you generally get a bit of respite between the contractions, so you are not in pain constantly for the whole of your labour IYSWIM.

with my first (in fact both labours!), I was induced early due to pg complications and I found have my waters broken utterly excruiatating. I was almost forced to have an epidural as they thought I couldn't cope with the pain. However, I said no, saying I wanted to experience what a contraction felt like (as they wanted to give me one before setting up the drip to start labour). I managed to cope through the labour with G&A (did nothing at first, but by the end I was screaming for it!) and diamorphine (1st labour) and pethidine (2nd labour). Have to say my 2nd labour, I was ready to do it all again afterwards - it is such an amazing experience of euphoria when your baby comes out!! Addictive!!!

Go with what you want and don't be afraid of asking for pain relief you want at the time. I agree that diamorphine/pethidine do make you feel spaced, as does G&A, but I quite liked that feeling myself - meant between contractions I felt lightly pissed and relaxed and able to joke and laugh with DH and the MWs!

Good luck and enjoy whatever method you choose!

xxx

Yes, best to leave it open. I had a horribly long, painful labour and also a fear of internal examinations so an epidural was always on the cards and after 12 hours or so of agony I said yes to it. But I tried gas and air for the first time as they were trying to get the epidural in, and I actually found it surprisingly effective and sort of wished I'd waited a bit longer. And I do think the epidural could have been partly responsible for my labour going nowhere and ending up with a CS.

NB I was told it would be a mobile epidural but I actually couldn't move and I was still in bad pain in one hip. Plus I got very bad shakes, though I don't know what caused that.

Labour pain is so different for everyone and so is the way each person responds to each type of pain relief - so it does help to be open to anything as you go along.

i had all these great ideas about a natural water birth etc etc but ended up with an epidural and can honestly say it was the best ever! the hardest bit was keeping still for 10mins whilst they put it in but i felt sooo much in control after.

i needed gas and air as well - probably for something to focus on during a contraction!

will def be asking for one this time

You girls are so lovely! Thank you for all your positive comments and best wishes. I shall definately find out about mobile Epidural options now too. All this info has really helped me think more clearly.

Reading all your comments makes me feel so impatient and broody again. My BH's are happening all day every day now, which the MW says is fine, but it makes me think about the labour alot. Am going on the delivery suite tour wossname soon, so should be nice to see whats to come.

Will of course do an announcement after the event. In fact I expect after ringing the hospital, panicking and faffing about I'll be on here posting the moment I get my first contractions so you can all give me permission to give birth. -Nods sagely- Hehe.

Thanks everyone. xXxXx

we love a good birth thread !

Not read thread, so probably repeating...

I loved my epidural! Was a mobile one, so I could feel the contractions and had the urge to push, but with no pain. I also had diamorphine in early labour which helped enormously - I went to sleep on and off while waiting for 2nd stage.

However, I would never write down "epidural please" on my birth plan. I didn't have much of a birth plan first time round, as I didn't feel that strongly about avoiding anything in particular. I just said I was open minded about pain relief.

Word of caution - once my epidural was in, dd had to be constantly monitored with a strap round my bump so I couldn't change position at all. I also pushed for 2.5 hours and was told I was about 10 minutes away from the next stage of intervention when she finally made an appearance. I guess it would have been ventouse or forceps - they didn't want it to go on much longer as I was getting exhausted. Although obviously I don't know if the length of time it took was down to the epi or not.

all the best

My friend has had 2 babies 9lb 6oz and 11lb 7ozs (yes really!) both with no epidural. I had 9lb 1oz and 9lb 15 1/2oz with epidurals.

1st - Induced, G & A, pethadine, epidural, episiotomy, tore, ventouse as lo's heart rate dipped. stiches.

2nd - sponatnoeus labour, 4cms dilated wanted epidural (you can have it written on your notes by a consultant that you want one asap, I did.) In a strange way I loved the contractions as the last time they weren't real. Did have epidural, thank god as ds got stuck and I had forceps (spinal block) to get him out, 3rd degree tear.

It is painful but it's not constant at first and it builds up, generally, gradually. You can be in utter agony one minute and then no pain at all the next. I wanted to get to 4cms ish before epidural (You can't have one before anyway just in case it's a false alarm)

If I were to have another baby (Dh says no ) I would write on my birth plan that I am happy to go with the flow until I feel I can't cope. With my history I probably would end up with one as I seem to grow big healthy boys but can't seem to deliver them

Read, ask advice, talk to friends but most of all be informed as to what your choices are -is your anethtist (SP?)available 24 hrs? Is there a dedicated maternity aneathetist, there was at my hospital). Make sure your dh/p knows your wishes as he may have to speak for you/sign on your behalf (mine did 1st time round) Try to think positively about birth, it is natural and possible!