How painful is childbirth with epidural?

[Snisel]

Is it still really bad or does the epidural mean it barely hurts at all? Honest answers and details please. I have never given birth so would like true stories of exactly how painful it is before considering pregnancy. Any personal experiences welcome, I would like realistic accounts of what to expect. TIA

I had zero feelings so zero pain, great stuff

If you have very bad water retention they can be a bit hit & miss. Otherwise amazing and I'd go for it every time. There are no prizes for doing it with more pain.

Caesarian’s are with epidurals and they cut you open so I think it’s safe to say you don’t feel anything.

It just got a little painful for me towards the end. I was warned in advance that it will probably be more of a strong pressure feeling than pain but it was definitely a bit ouchie and I was given gas and air to help. Totally manageable and I knew I was near the end so it didn't worry me. Prior to that didn't really feel any pain as such but I could definitely feel when I was contracting and the feeling in my legs etc never went (but I think this helped make the pushing stage easy as I knew when to push and he was out within 15mins). It was such a positive, lovely experience in comparison to my non- epidural birth and I'd definitely have one again.

Ps
I only had an epidural for twin Caesarian, and to stitch me up after giving birth with 3rd degree tear after first vaginal gas and air birth.

Administering the epidural is painless ( in my experience ) after that you feel nothing waste down basically.

Depends on how you labour! They wont give you an epidural for natural birth until you're 3cm dilated, which can be 12 hours plus of contraction agony. Then, if you're like me with my second one, i went from 3cm to 10cm within 30 mins and then baby was here 15 min after that so no time for epidural!

It's a very primal thing though. Your body just takes over.

If you get induced then definitely ask for epidural alongside the hormone drip from the start.

I felt like I could feel a lot with my 3rd despite the epidural, it was hard going. For my first it was such a relief, I dozed between contractions for a couple of hours and recouped some energy for the next bit.

Every labour is different and pain can be very varied with each one.

I didn't have an epidural in DDs birth,
With DS1 I was intent I wasn't having an epidural- but I was induced and the pain was extreme so I ended up having an epidural. Honestly, there was still pain because the epidural was patchy. I still had the same level of pain on my left hand side, so I got a spinal block which took away all feeling to nearly my armpits!

With DS2 I was intent that I was having an epidural, but before I had my hormone drip, and can honestly say that it felt like I had the most perfect labour. No "real" pain and I felt empowered.

I laboured for days a long time and when I got the epidural, I really, literally could have married the anesthesiologist on the spot. Went from pain to nothing at all in an instant.

There are issues with timing and availability sometimes. But mine was given when I wanted and lasted.

First time round I had a spinal block as I had a forsteps delivery, felt minor pain.

6 weeks ago with second baby I had the epidural and was completely numb from the breasts down. Felt pressure. No baby for 13 hours. Checked for the final time at 3:45pm, baby’s head was 1/2 way out and no one knew including me as I just lay there talking. 4 pushes baby was out. Easiest delivery ever. Had a slight controlled cut to help get baby out, felt nothing.

Good luck OP, ask for it nice and early. I had mine at 8am, baby born just before 4pm.

administering the epidural was painless?!

wow you were lucky. It was the worst bit for me, took ages, kept getting nerve flashes down my legs, and they kept hitting bone. I have scarring on my back from the repeated attempts to site it properly.

once in though I had a section and felt nothing. I do react to the anaesthesia though so felt very sick, shaky and dizzy. It took all my willpower to stay conscious, I don’t think I could have pushed a baby out feeling like that!

I couldn't feel a thing, but then I think it backfired for me. As I couldn't feel a thing, in turn... I couldn't feel myself push... 2 hours of 'pushing' for an episiotomy, forceps and 2 weeks of recovery, couldn't even sit comfortably on a sofa, I had to lay down as the pressure of an episiotomy is unbearable.

I ended up with a spinal block as needed forceps delivery in the end. I was exhausted after 9-10 hours of contractions so it was a godsend, could feel nothing from the chest down but sweet relief! The sitting still for the injection while having contractions was a moment that will never leave me!

however, it was weird not being able to feel anything at all, I think I might have preferred a little bit of feeling but it wasn’t to be.

Always do what is right for you but please try not to overthink the pain. Unless you are induced and choose epidural very early or have an elective section, labour will come with some degree of pain.

I can only speak up to a certain point of Labour (pushing stage stalled) but you really do end up in a world of your own, very focussed on the delivery, and yes it is painful, but it’s pain with a purpose so feels more “manageable” in a sense.

Didn't feel the epidural go in.
Epidural started to wear off towards the end. I could feel to push, could feel the forceps and had a local anaesthetic when I was cut. By that point I was in the moment and it took the edge off the pain. Dd was back to back and it wasn't too bad.
One thing I will say, once you've had an epidural you can't eat. I did 24hrs without food.

Was amazing. Zero pain

Wow, how in the world could they hit bone, and more than once! I’m so sorry; that’s just verging on incompetence. No one should end up with a scar like that. I know that, data wise, epidurals are safe, but sadly, things like this can happen, and I can’t imagine dealing with that when you’re already hurt and stressed.

But @Snisel when making a decision, you should know the science might be comforting as well. The risk of any serious complication is very small (risk of paralysis is 1 in 1 million and the risk of permanent nerve damage is 1 in 50,000). In addition, they’ve now shown epidurals decrease severe maternal morbidity (morbidity is injury or illness that doesn’t lead to death) and post partum hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of both maternal morbidity and mortality.

I felt absolutely nothing after an epidural! Zero pain!

Pressure not pain. Epidural failed with my second, that was painful.

I've had 2, the first failed completely and then I was stuck labouring in bed on my back, which was the worst of both worlds. The 2nd time around the epidural initially worked but it didn't extend all the way down to all nerve endings so I felt it all for the end (worst) bit.

Epidurals fail 15% of the time so you can't guarantee a pain free birth but they do work brilliantly for plenty of people.

@LER2023

So sorry for your losses, I'm sure that's really hard, but I felt the need to speak up for women as women, rather than mothers.

You can absolutely base some or all of your decision to have children on whether you think you could cope with the pain of childbirth because it's your body and quite frankly, even a very straightforward birth comes with it's own level of body trauma, accompanied by hormonal changes that make the birth and post-natal process a whirlwind. Take into account that many births are not straightforward, and quite a lot of women are left with injuries that last days, weeks, months or the rest of their life and it should absolutely be considered whether you're happy to take that risk to welcome a baby into the family.

You have your own trauma, and I'm very sorry for that, but this shouldn't be weaponized to demonise the thought processes of anyone who is considering the pros/cons of having children.

Epidural was wonderful. You can control the dose to an extent. I couldn't feel the contractions but was still able to move my legs, and was actually able to enjoy pushing. I'd been labouring for over 24 hrs when I had the epidural. The most difficult part of the pain, and what led me to getting it, was that I was so tired. I was upset that things were moving so slowly, I hadn't slept, I saw my dh sleeping (as he needed to!) and I thought "I can't do this". I think lots of my labour difficulty was psychological.

It hurts when they put the epidural in, but by the time you're asking for it, you'll get through it! I also became really itchy, but they gave me something to reduce it.

You may also need urinary catheter with the epidural and you may need it for some days after, which came as a not-fun surprise.

@LER2023 it is not selfish for women to think about how having a baby will impact on them. No one has to have a baby and women who don’t have children are not selfish

I had an epidural with my first child after being in labour for about 20hours.

I went from being in a lot of pain to only feeling pressure and being able to chat normally and get some sleep. It was amazing and such a relief. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. The downside was that I couldn’t feel when to push so had to be told by a midwife and doctor. I did feel pain as he actually came out but that wasn’t for very long.

I’m sorry for your losses.

However, your post is extremely inappropriate. It is absolutely fine for OP to ask and be concerned about pain. Many women worry about the pain of childbirth.