Oh and on a less serious note..

The idea of willingly sticking a needle in my spine AND being immobile with my legs in stirrups under hospital lights in a hospital? No way!

Just gimme my big bath, fireplace, big fluffy bed, massages, snacks, drinks, a doula and a hardcore midwife thank you.

Any kind of intervention is going to affect you and your baby.

As others have mentioned, getting an epidural increases the risk of needing a c-section, forceps, vacuum, etc. and each of those things have their own risk factors as well.

Both my prenatal instructor and the nurse who took us on our hospital tour mentioned that babies whose moms had an epidural had an increased risk of coming out with "confused sucking", which makes it harder to breastfeed right away. Not the end of the world, certainly, but worth noting.

Can anyone give me some medical sites with some statistics or something. I appreciate the books, but to be completely honest, I'm proabbly not gonna go get them and I Don't have a library close. All the information I have been able to find basically says it can slow labor down (that is why I want to wait til about 6 centimeters dialated) but that it is healthy for the baby and doesn't give an increased risk for any complications. I know people say it does, but maybe that's just because you are told that. About the business of being born, i don't really think I want to watch that, I hear it was basically really one sided and propaganda. I like to look at everything as a whole, not just really negative things on one side of an argument. As far as being flat on my back, I'll be this way anyway with or without an epi.

I dont have any material for you and im certainly not going to look on the net lol but I just get my information from midwives/doctors and my consultant.
xx

I gave you the link to PubMed. That is the medical database for doctors and medical research, it is as 'real' as it gets. Did you try any search terms? All the books I posted contain a wide range of statistics.

Is there a reason you want to be flat on your back without an epi? This is the least favourable position for giving birth. I'm not really sure what information you are looking for. Ina May's book is the most critical book in natural labour there is - it is the "bible' giving birth without medication. I suggest giving it a try.

Well my Dr had an epidural so to me that seems like she has a bit of faith in them.

I think its great that you are looking into these things, and asking questions. However, when you are in labour things are always different than we imagine. I had an epidural with my son, as I was induced 3 weeks early with him. The epidural worked great...it wasn't painful...BUT I had a reaction to it afterwards. My bp dropped to 55/26 or something crazy low like that. I wasn't really "with it" and it took me a day or so to recover from that. I was fine afterwards though ...no other problems. Unmedicated births are generally better for recovery after the birth...some of the epidural will slightly go to baby...but barely enough to show affect. With my 2nd baby I plan on the epidural again. I see no big problems with it.

I guess for me personally it's "how do I handle pain or fear?" I don't think I could handle not being able to feel my lower body, that would send me into a panic. Also why would I want to be lying down! It's a proven fact your pelvis closes when on your back and you want me to push out a baby with a closed pelvic! Ouch lol. I want to be free to walk, shower, bathe, squat, whatever my body wants to do.

A friend of mine got a epi and said never again! As, like I said about me,she freaked and thought her legs were gone so in labour made the Dr lift her legs and show her they were there! Scary!

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...02937800701554

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...02937802701816

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...50355298800795


These are just a few I've studies I've scanned but basically what I'm getting is is that the jury is still out, studies have "proven" that it leads to more c-sections, studies have also "proven" that it doesn't. Big problems on both sides with selection bias, sample size and the observers paradox, in short: methodology. Basically on both sides of the fence the researchers appear to find what they're looking for. Only thing they can agree on is that the epi itself is less harmful than other painrelief.

Personally I think you can use your common sense. If you so happen to have staff or a doctor or a hospital policy that doesn't let you take your time in labour and are quick to jump to use other techniques to hurry it along (pictosin, c-sections) then I think you can assume that you'll have a higher risk of extra procedures at that particular hospital or with that particular doctor. If they're less inclined to rush then, ceteris paribus, you'll have a lower chance of extra interventions.

That being said we're pretty much completely in the dark regarding predictability of outcomes of this procedure itself.

Wish I could be of more use to you

I went in with the mindset of no epi...while you can try to plan...just make sure you have an open mind about things as you don't really know what will happen on that day.