# Epidural at 3cm..



## tinkerbelle93

I was chatting to my midwife about how scared I am of labour and how rubbish I am with pain and she suggested having an epidural early on (rom 3cm dilated) if I want it? 

I didn't realise you could have them that soon but I know lots of people will be really set against stuff like this. I'm so scared though that I think I'll probably just want one at the time. I'm not into the whole 'natural birth, feel pain and therefore have a better bond with the baby' stuff, I'm a lot more 'have baby as smoothly, safely and easily as possible with minimal pain!' 

Anyway, does anyone have any opinions on this? And please don't judge anyone it's my choice! Thanks xx


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## Celesse

If you are having an epidural early you need to make sure your are in established labour and not in latent labour. 3cm can be still in the latent phase and latent labour can seem a lot like established labour especially if you haven't felt the stronger contractions before. 

Once the epidural is in your not going to be as upright, so the baby could slip into a bad position and slow labour down. If your only in early labour just having the epidural could slow labour right down regaurdless of babies position. And if they have already decided that you are in labour, and have given you an epidural then they will decide they need to speed it up. To speed up labour they will probably break your waters and if this doesn't work enough they will start a hormone drip. The hormone drip can make your contractions a lot stronger, which isn't going to be bad for you since you won't feel them, but can stress out the baby. If baby becomes too distressed then they will need to do a C-Section. This is what we call the Cascade of Interventions. 

If baby is ok, and they fail to speed up labour then they may decide on a C-Section for failure to progress after x number of hours has passed. 

On the other hand if you are tense and scared and not coping well, this will also slow labour down. 

I'd suggest trying other methods including the gas and air out first and see how long you can manage on it. That way you will know that your labour is more established when you get your epidural. I found labour pains got hard at around 5cm.


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## cherryglitter

i had an epidural at 3cms. i ended up with a back to back baby stuck in a really bad position needing a forceps delivery (failing that a c-section) 

i'm sure this isn't the case for everybody. i also found that it didn't really take my pain away fully. :nope:


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## Leopard

I was dead set against having an epidural. Until I got to the hospital, was told I was 3cm, had to wait for 10mins before going to birth suite and ended up screaming for an epi. They asked me if I could wait until I got to the birthing suite, I agreed. Got to bs and they asked me if I'd like to have a shower, so I had a shower (best pain relief ever) but I couldn't stay in because the wireless baby monitors stopped working. I breathed and moaned through 4hrs of contractions and then went g&a, I never got my epi, I actually forgot about it.

To be totally honest I wouldn't have had it any other day, I'm not sure if the pain made me bond any better, but it was awesome to be able to leave the birthing suite 10 minutes later and go and get some subway and a coffee etc from down town (LO was in special care for the first day). I don't think I could of done that with an epi. 

That was my experience, but it is your decision in the end :)


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## xsadiex

All I know is that having it that early could really slow things down and as Celesse said resulting in more interventions...forceps, venthouse, c-section. But it could work out fine for you! You never know 'till it happens.
I think the best idea is trying other forms of pain relief first and then seeing how you feel because you might suprise yourself! xx


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## goddess25

It can slow down the whole process quite significantly, plus you may find that its not that bad.

I was 3cm dilated before labour even started.. so I guess latent labour over a few weeks and I felt a wee bit of pressure but no pain. Didn't start getting a bit more intense until about 6-7cm.

As you say weigh up all the research and ultimately its your decision.


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## OctBebe

cherryglitter said:


> i had an epidural at 3cms. i ended up with a back to back baby stuck in a really bad position needing a forceps delivery (failing that a c-section)
> 
> i'm sure this isn't the case for everybody. i also found that it didn't really take my pain away fully. :nope:

I had exactly the same baby was in perfect position for labour since 35weeks then at between 5-8cm he turned prosterior transverse so the side of the back of his head was trying to come out. My Epi wore off when I was 9cm and getting slammed with contractions until the Dr came and put more numbing in. I could move my legs after he had put more in I could not. Then he was in distress so the forcepd him out with major "force".
I wanted a natural birth with G&A then I got induced epi forceps episiotomy ect. 

Go for the Epi, I loved escaping the pain ;) The downside is notbeing able to ajust yourself or get out of befor hours and hours, having a catheder (sp) Got an epi at 4am I birthed at 3.55pm didnt get up till 8am the next day when my catherder came out, so I'd be sitting for like 2days ekkk


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## NuKe

if you want the baby out as safely as possible, that doesn't necessarily mean an epidural is the right way to go. a lot of the time they don't work (1 in 10), mine didn't. and there are a lot of risks that go along with them, do your research!

i want a natural birth this time, but not just so i can "feel pain and have a better bond", because ive done a lot of reading since having poppy and think the cons outweigh the pros.


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## loverguts

I was really worried about pain etc with my first LO, im also of the opinion that if there is a pain free alternative then why not take it, but the pain is SO different for everyone. I was 4cm when i went to hospital and i was expecting to be about 1 or 2 and possibly sent home but i NEEDED to get in early and have my epidural, hehe. I asked for one straight away but because there was a never ending queue of ladies in theatre i wasn't given it till 9cm (pointless really) and it failed too (even more pointless! hehe).

I think you should go in with an open mind. You might get yourself worked up if you go in and get told there will be a wait for an epidural...my wait was 4 hours...but if you just go with the flow you might not even want one till a bit later on when it wouldn't be such a possibility of it slowing down labour, or you might even find that you are coping perfectly fine with something like G&A etc :flower:


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## 1stBump_27

I was dead set on an epidural for my first so didn't really take any relaxation and breathing taught seriously. When I got to the hospital they were under-staffed and overrun by labouring women. I got left desperately waiting for my epidural. Because that's all I could think of I got really fearful and made labour so much worse. I think you might need some other techniques to get you to the epidural. I finally got mine at 9cm, my DD was back to back and had to have episitomy and forceps delivery. Not pleasant. This time I'm going for a home birth and going to try as natural as possible. My DD was sleepy for over 24 hrs and struggled to breastfeed. Fear makes pain worse so I'm going to try my best to go with it. Good luck - just remember no matter what happens you'll have your gorgeous baby at the end :)


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## AimeeM

I wouldn't really recommend it, it can really slow labour down and at 3cm the pain isn't bad at all, well I don't know if it is different for everyone. Would you not try gas and air first?

I agree the pain seemed to kick up a gear after 6cm. I got an epi and then got stuck at 6.5cm for hours.


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## Leopard

AimeeM said:


> I wouldn't really recommend it, it can really slow labour down and at 3cm the pain isn't bad at all, well I don't know if it is different for everyone. Would you not try gas and air first?
> 
> I agree the pain seemed to kick up a gear after 6cm. I got an epi and then got stuck at 6.5cm for hours.

Lol. I didn't have an epi, but I was 3cm for hours, went 5cm just before my water broke and went straight from 5 to 10cm, so I don't know what 6cm felt like :cry: hopefully next time!


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## AimeeM

Leopard said:


> AimeeM said:
> 
> 
> I wouldn't really recommend it, it can really slow labour down and at 3cm the pain isn't bad at all, well I don't know if it is different for everyone. Would you not try gas and air first?
> 
> I agree the pain seemed to kick up a gear after 6cm. I got an epi and then got stuck at 6.5cm for hours.
> 
> Lol. I didn't have an epi, but I was 3cm for hours, went 5cm just before my water broke and went straight from 5 to 10cm, so I don't know what 6cm felt like :cry: hopefully next time!Click to expand...

Or hopefully not, going from 5 to 10 and missing out 6,7,8,9 sounds great hehe xx


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## cherryglitter

AimeeM said:


> I wouldn't really recommend it, it can really slow labour down and at 3cm the pain isn't bad at all, well I don't know if it is different for everyone. Would you not try gas and air first?
> 
> I agree the pain seemed to kick up a gear after 6cm. I got an epi and then got stuck at 6.5cm for hours.

at 3cm i was in agony!
it is different for everybody. :flower:


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## Drazic<3

They won't do them at my hospital until they consider you to be in established labour (over 5cm) 

All I would say to you is don't decide now. If you need and want one, fine - but don't tell yourself you can't do it before you start! Consider other pain relief options too :)


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## NaturalMomma

The earlier you have an epidural the more your chances go up for a c-section. At 3 cm you probably won't feel pain at all. Many women walk around at 3 cm before even going in to labor. You don't normally feel pain until you're in transition which is 5+ cm and is at the end of labor. After transition, which actually doesn't last that long, you're ready to push. I would get a Doula and try to hold off as long as you can with the epidural. It does have risks that you should know about.


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## cherryglitter

hopefully i'm one of these woman who have no pain at 3cm next time round :haha:


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## Blah11

goddess25 said:



> It can slow down the whole process quite significantly, plus you may find that its not that bad.
> 
> I was 3cm dilated before labour even started.. so I guess latent labour over a few weeks and I felt a wee bit of pressure but no pain. Didn't start getting a bit more intense until about 6-7cm.
> 
> As you say weigh up all the research and ultimately its your decision.

Same here, I was 3cm before I had any contractions and I didn't feel like the contractions were really bad until I was more like 8-9cm.


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## Leopard

AimeeM said:


> Leopard said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AimeeM said:
> 
> 
> I wouldn't really recommend it, it can really slow labour down and at 3cm the pain isn't bad at all, well I don't know if it is different for everyone. Would you not try gas and air first?
> 
> I agree the pain seemed to kick up a gear after 6cm. I got an epi and then got stuck at 6.5cm for hours.
> 
> Lol. I didn't have an epi, but I was 3cm for hours, went 5cm just before my water broke and went straight from 5 to 10cm, so I don't know what 6cm felt like :cry: hopefully next time!Click to expand...
> 
> Or hopefully not, going from 5 to 10 and missing out 6,7,8,9 sounds great hehe xxClick to expand...

So perhaps I should feel lucky?
My doctor reckons they come quicker the second time, I bloody well hope not because knowing my luck I'll be down town, my waters will break and within 15 minutes I'll end up with a baby :haha:


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