i dont think you can even compair them lol, i had gas and air on the way to the hospital in the ambulance and used it til i got my epidural and i could not stop throwing up for hours after it, there was nothing even left in my stomach but i couldnt stop it was horrible and did nothing for the pain, just made me feel the way you do when your drunk and you know your about to puke lol. I got the epidural and never felt a thing from contractions to baby coming out (i did feel the episiotomy). With my 2nd girl i was in agony unitl i got the epidural and refused to even try the gas and air whilst i was waiting as i did not want to go through all that again, i got the epidural but this time they didnt keep it topped up so by the time i was ready for pushing i could feel babys head at my butt but it still felt kinda numb like when you have a dead foot but you can still feel it if you know what i mean, i could still feel the contrations but they werent too bad but from my bikini line down i was still partially numb so i could feel that baby was coming out but couldnt feel the pain which was good lol, they did tell i would feel a burning sensation and i thought "oh shit no" but i didnt feel it lol. Im not sure what i will do this time but i would like a back up plan cos they always try to talk you out of having an epi as they cant leave you on your own if you have one also i think it slows things down a bit and they want it to hurry up. If i knew i would be gauranteed one then i wouldnt even worry about the birth at all x

This will be my first baby, so ive not really had any experience with pain relief. But i have decided on an epidural as my pain threshold is next to nothing and ive seen g&a make people throw up, (im emetophobic!)

Hope you find the pain relief your looking for

I wish I remembered what it was i had during labor... it was something put into my IV. nurse said id get sleepy and loopy, so i asked for just half the dosage and it took the tip off contractions (which were bad from pitocin and then doc breaking my water) i was able to labor 5 hrs like that on just the iv medicine, i did feel loopy but it helped keep focus off pain sort of. got my epi at 6cm slept for 1 hr, nurse woke me said i was crowning and i pushed her out in 5minutes. ive never heard of gas or air stuff?

gas and air = laughing gas.

It's labour that makes you be sick, not the gas and air. Women are sick in labour with no pain medication, gas and air and an epidural.

I loved the gas and air, it was like drinking 3 bottles of wine and getting the affect with in 20 seconds and it went with in 20 seconds of stopping taking it.

Had gas with both my girls, did nothing for the pain, so this time its epidural for sure!!