Forum : Pregnancy

Hay Nat i am a fan of the epadural i must adimt. Because it nums you from the waist down where i dont feel any pain or the pressure pains and i have no problems afterwards. This is my 4th child and i will be getting the same with this baby when the times comes. Im 9 weeks preggy on Monday 80)

Well i hope i have helped you a little bit.

you need to stay open minded as you dont know how you will cope.

i hate epidurals! i wanted to feel the moment of childbirth and wanted to be able to experience labour without being either numb from the waist down or drugged up on pethidine!

with my first baby, i laboured for 3 days at home with just a tens machine. got to hospital and i was already fully dilated, i then had gas and air and pushed, but my baby got stuck and i ended up in theatre as i had to have a forceps delivery. i therefore had no choice but to have an epidural. having it done wasnt that bad, but i hated every single second of it. i couldnt feel the moment my baby was born. it then took 8 hours for it to wear off before i could even tend to my baby without help. the worst part of it, and this is the bit where i disagree with the comment above about there being no problems afterwards, is that it has now been 4 years since my first baby was born and because of the epidural i have terrible back pain. i can no longer lay flat on my back without it seizing up and being in pain with it.

when my second baby came along (nearly 11 weeks old now) i swore i'd never have an epidural again. i had an absolutely fantastic birth experience with her with just gas and air.. it does hurt, but being able to feel everything and most importantly feeling the moment my baby was born was truly amazing.

we arent having anymore children but if i was, i would definitely, once again, steer very clear of epidurals and go for gas and air only. i am actually a total wimp when it comes to anything medical - i had a filling done earlier this week and i was beside myself with fear. i actually said to the dentist that i'd rather be in labour and giving birth than having anythign dental done!

what you need to remember though, is that everybody's experience of things is going to be different. for me, doing it with as little pain relief as possible was just what i wanted.

Hi Natalie,
I just gave birth to my first baby 9 days ago, I though of an active birth and try gas and air and possile aromatherapy but when the stronger contractions kicked in this was simply not enough. I did not feel the gas and air did anything for me and was not really keen on epidural. Midwife suggested diamorphine which i had, and I must say it was great! It really took the sting out and made it possible for me to focus and relax a bit. It did make baby a bit drowsy for the first day but she (and me) are fine so I would recommend diamorpine if you feel you need more then just gas & air. Good luck!

im about to give birth any day with my second, and im staying clear of pethidine. made me drowsy and not quite with it yet the pain stayed the same. but everybody is different.

Hi Nat, I didn't have any pain relief. But you do need to stay open minded just incase. Good luck x

Hi Natalie, I think it's very important to keep an open mind about what type of pain relief you may or may not want and what type of birth experiance you want. I went into labour with my first child with the perfect birth plan, which ended up being a complete and utter waste of time. I wanted a water birth and was devastated when I arrived at hospital and I couldn't have one. I also had my mind set on gas & air as I didn't want any other pain relief but I agree with Jennifer, it didn't work whatsoever and I was very sick with it so I ended up giving birth without any pain relief. Everybody is different and pain effects people in different ways. It's a good idea to be clued up about the pros and cons of each type of pain relief but do keep an open mind. Good luck x

I agree with previous comments about having a flexible birth plan. I planned for a home birth with gas and air but my labour wasn't progressing. Contractions started early hours - after 24 hrs they were too strong to talk through and midwife came out. I was 4 cm and went on gas and air. I found it really helped with breathing through contractions. My problem was labour not progressing, I got to 7cm by morning but was still same at lunchtime and getting tired so midwife arranged transfer to hospital. Had epidural which I felt was fantastic as I could only feel the middle of the very strongest contractions so I got some rest though didn't manage any sleep. The downside was that when it was time for me to push, I couldn't feel the contractions, and just had to push when I was told to. I couldn't manage to get him out on my own and had to have ventouse delivery which wasn't very pleasant but it got him out! I would suggest doing your 'ideal' plan but also think of what you might want as 'backup' if things don't go to plan on the day.
Good luck x