Epidural

Hi There, i am pregnant with my second child and i am dead against having another epidural. with my first child i had one and it prolonged my labour (38 hrs) it caused distress to my baby (she actually opened her bowels inside me she was so distressed) my contractions stopped so i was rushed to theatre and had to have a forceps delivery. I agree that an epidural is a great effecive pain reliever, it can cause situations like mine, you cannot feel contractions at all so you don't know when you need to push. So this time i am opting for a water birth as i want this to be as natural as possible. good luck with your choice.

I think the best advise I can give you is don't have a birth plan, usually your baby has other plans in mind. I have had 4 labours and had an epidural with them all, each time I wanted to see if I could do without but my labours got longer with each baby I had, so I ended up having an epidural each time. On the up side if you need an assisted labour you won't feel a thing (had that with 2 of mine). Down side is apparently they can make your labour last longer, but hey if your sleeping who cares! You may have a quick labour and not have time for epidural so no piont in planning anything. Go in open minded and go with the flow. Gas and air is fantastic, it's all in the timing. Good luck

My epidural was fantastic, it was like the pain had just been switched off. The pethadine was a waste of time, it made me sick and when the midwife tried to get me to have some more pethadine and i told her it hadn't stopped the pain, she said that it wasn't supposed to stop the pain just to relax you. Do not rule out an epidural! I don't think I could have coped without one.

The only warning about the epidural is that in my local hospital, you need a midwife with you constantly if you have had one, and they were very short staffed the night I went into labour so I had to wait about 3 hours until I actually got it (good job my baby was not in a hurry!).

My epidural was amazing I would definitely recommend it

Good luck for the birth!

Well, i attempted to have an epidural and i wish i hadnt bothered. I had planned to have a natural birth with pethidine if necessary but at 5cm i was in agony and i decided to have one. However, the woman administering it couldnt get it in the right space, you have to sit really still with your back pushed out and if youve ever tried doing that with contractions coming one on top of the other its not easy. in the end they couldnt get it in anyway so for me it was a stressful, painful experience which left me with awful shooting pains in my back and dreadful headaches for weeks. I think the reason why people dont like them is because of the complications that can arise from them, and also that you have to have a catheter etc and all the risks you take by having one. If your going to have one tell them as early as possible so you can sit still for long enough, as if your contractions are on top of each other like mine it will be awful and probably not worth the bother. then again my labour was only 8 hours. Its your decision in the end, just be prepared for it not to work, i know several people who had a similar experience to me. i even know one girl who it worked for but only down one side so she was still in agony bless her! Good luck xxx

OMG why do some peole make such a big deal about these things!! I have 3 children and have had epidurals with all of them . For my first I had intended to get by on gas and air but found it made me sick and I couldn't take it, I then had pethidene which is very effective although it makes u very sleepy and not with it. After a 22 hour labour I finally gave in and had an epidural and couldn't believe how wonderful they are!! I don't understand why we need to be put through soo much pain when the epidural gets rid of it all!! For my other 2 labours i made sure I had requested one as soon as I needed it. There really are no side effects and I cannot reccommended them enough..See how things go and don't be forced to go through a labour that is very difficult if u feel u cannot cope. Hopefully u have a good mid-wife who will guide u through everything. Enjoy the rest of ur pregnancy.

Hi, I gave birth to my first baby in Nov 07. As I had a few complications I had to be induced at 37 weeks. They started me off saturday morning and I soon started having contractions but nothing much was really happening. After a few more chemicals to get things going my waters broke naturally 4.30pm on sunday and I was going to have my son that night but they ran out of beds so I was told to have a hot bath and have paracetamol to help with the pain and put up with it as long as I could!! Things slowed up again and I was then taken to the delivary suite first thing monday morning and put on a hormone drip to really get things underway and this did make labour a lot more painful. I had to be monitored because of the drip and my babies heartbeat also had to be constantly monitored as he was struggling as things were taking so long. As I was confined to the bed because of all the wires and machines I couldn't do much to distract myself to take the pain away. I didn't want an epidural but I tried gas and air and found it completely useless! Eventually I opted to have an epidural as we decided this would be better than pethadine at the stage I was at and it was likely that I would end up having a c-section as baby was getting into difficulties. They did have to do it twice as the first one didn't take but it made the pain so much better I was able to deal with it and rest. I was so tired after 3 nights in hospital already and not much sleep and this allowed me to relax a bit and save my energy for the crucial part. As I wasn't in so much pain they left baby to come down as far as he could naturally so when it came to pushing he was a long way down anyway and 16 mins later was born at 11.06 pm monday.Mine wasn't a strong dose as I could still feel the pressure of contractions and I could feel when to push, although I couldn't get off the bed I could still move my legs and I was fine after. No dead legs or headaches, just a bit of bruising where the epidural was given.

i am due to have my first baby in october and have began thinkng about the birth. Every book i have read has advised against an epidural and i went to a baby fair and it was full of bra-less hippies who again advised against it. Surely this would not be offered if it were such a bad idea? Someone out there must have another opinion on this. I am not planing on this as a first option but i would like it on stand by. Does anyone have a good experiance of it? Would very much appreciate any advice or stories?

hello i had epidural with both my first two children and it was fantastic! I even slept through labour and they woke me just before it was time to push. However when I started in labour with my 3rd child it was very quick and i couldnt have any pain relief not even gas and air and i panicked! i was scared to death but it was great and not at all as bad as what i thought it would be. So ive experienced no pain at all and full on pain! I would say just go with the flow and if you feel you need epidural then ask for it. I didnt experience any side effects with epidural.