# U.S ladies, has anyone gotten gas and air in the states??



## larudy13

Just like the subject says, has any of you ladies who live in the united states received gas and air as your pain relief in labor? Either way yes or no, where are you located(what state)? I am just wondering if its common in the U.S or not at all
Thank you :flower:


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## Armygirl2010

Not in NC


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## DaisyBee

I wasnt offered it (live in MN) and havent heard of anyone I know being offered it either.


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## MimiGreen

was not offered in CO - also I had never heard of it until I came to this site.


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## SIEGAL

I actually was looking into this the other day and read an article that only a handful of hospitals offer it in this country and from my understanding its not legal for at home/birthing center use.


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## Kage76

from what i have read about births gas and air was phased out in the states when epidurals gained popularity- however there is a big push for it to be brought back in as an option. Speaking from experience its definitely worth asking your health care provider about.


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## flashy09

No, they do give it at the dentist though...called nitrous oxide though not gas and air.


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## Srrme

I wasn't offered it in Oklahoma. I've heard nothing about it in Colorado either. :nope:


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## Sweedot

I'm in MA and asked about it and my hospital doesn't offer it....I'm originally from the UK and my sister raved about it during her labour ....so I was a mite disappointed when I heard it wasn't an option.


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## sunshine20

They have air if you need/request it at my hospital but no gas from what i know.


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## Guppy051708

This is not commonly offered. Most US hospitals do not have them.
This was not an option at my hospital. (not that i wanted it, but even i did it, it wasn't an option). I also have family in Pennsylvania, and all of those hospitals do not offer it either :nope:
I live in New Hampshire, and there is a hospital here that does offer it. Actually its a teaching hospital and they are looking into it for another option of laboring women. It was Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Lebanon, NH


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## dontworry

I haven't heard of it being an option in California, but I haven't been to all of the hospitals so I couldn't honestly tell you! Lol. I do know they provide the air if you need it (just plain oxygen) but no gas like they offer at some dentists.


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## Guppy051708

i think all hospitals provide air, but generally thats because of complications (i.e. mom and/or baby isn't getting enough oxygen). Air alone does nothing as far as pain relief goes. I believe they just use the air as a way to get the gas into your system :thumbup:


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## Jtiki

I asked about it in TX and they thought I was crazy. They said that gas isn't recommended for pregnant women under any circumstances, including the dentist. Out of curiosity, I asked the dentist when I went for a regular cleaning and he said the same thing - that he would never use it on a pregnant woman. Texas is a very conservative state when it comes to lots of issues.


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## Guppy051708

Jtiki said:


> I asked about it in TX and they thought I was crazy. They said that gas isn't recommended for pregnant women under any circumstances, including the dentist. Out of curiosity, I asked the dentist when I went for a regular cleaning and he said the same thing - that he would never use it on a pregnant woman. Texas is a very conservative state when it comes to lots of issues.


...except they have one of the highest c-section rates? :shrug:

maybe the dentist didn't know you were referring to labor? that would probably be a bit different story if he thought you meant during pregnancy iykwim?....i think its funny that doctors here think its so horrible and yet they offer pitocin and epidurals like its candy! 
Women who use G&A during labor actually receive FAR less medications than those with epis!


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## suzannabanana

One of my friends who's a doula told me that one of the womens' hospitals here in Pittsburgh has it, but you have to ask for it and they don't really talk about it...weird...


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## redstiletto

not here in CA.


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## Jtiki

Guppy051708 - I meant Texas is conservative in the sense that they don't want to do anything outside of the "norm." You are absolutely correct that they have a ridiculously high cesarean rate here. 

Before switching to a midwife I probably had much more medical intervention than is necessary just because my age automatically places me at "high risk." I got tired of how many times I said I don't want an amnio.


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## Guppy051708

Jtiki said:


> Guppy051708 - I meant Texas is conservative in the sense that they don't want to do anything outside of the "norm." You are absolutely correct that they have a ridiculously high cesarean rate here.
> 
> Before switching to a midwife I probably had much more medical intervention than is necessary just because my age automatically places me at "high risk." I got tired of how many times I said I don't want an amnio.

Oic. Yeah :dohh: I understand now :D

I love having a MW! So much better than having a "medwife" (had one of those w DS :wacko:)

I would be driven mad if my age alone made me high risk...thats rediculous. I am a birth educator and a birth doula and let me say that my "seasoned clients" were usually in better shape than half the ladies of "child bearing age". And they rocked their births!


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## KristelB

I'm in Canada but thought I'd chime in.

I had a hospital tour the other dayand asked if they offered it as I'd rather have that over an epidural (I know not the same, but rather have nitrous oxide rather than epidural). They said they offer it but do not advise it for a long period of time. I thought I might get it during pushing.


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## Kage76

KristelB said:


> I'm in Canada but thought I'd chime in.
> 
> I had a hospital tour the other dayand asked if they offered it as I'd rather have that over an epidural (I know not the same, but rather have nitrous oxide rather than epidural). They said they offer it but do not advise it for a long period of time. I thought I might get it during pushing.

as a general rule the one time they try to get you to not use gas and air is in the pushing stage- Gas and air makes you feel really really drunk- and you need a lot of focus to push. I would advise you start to use it when a epidural starts to look attractive. I absoluly nailed my gas and air- i was induced and she was back to back - baby and I were fine. Its commonly used in the UK and australia with no issues to mums and bubs.


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## overcomer79

I wish they did. I would rather have that option. I was given air and epi due to PIH so come to think of it I may not have been a candidate for "gas and air".


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## kasey c

I was wondering about this too- I am moving from the United Kingdom to CT in a few months - looks like gas and air (also referred to entonox in U.K) is a not an option then in the U.S! I wasn't overly impressed with gas and air when I gave birth last time I stopped using it when I went into active labour (think the gas bottle was empty!) and had quite a bad tickly cough for a few days after using it.


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## Guppy051708

ya never know kasey! You'll just have to ask, because there are some hospitals (though rare) that does supply it. And New England area is your best bet (which CT is in), so it wouldn't hurt to ask, but i wouldnt get your hopes up lol


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## blessedmomma

not in kansas that i know of. wouldnt want to feel all loopy in labor though anyways :nope:


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## Kage76

blessedmomma said:


> not in kansas that i know of. wouldnt want to feel all loopy in labor though anyways :nope:

you don't feel loopy all the time - it takes about 10-15 seconds for the effects to wear off- and at its height you just feel really really drunk. as soon as you breathe normal air you pretty much feel right.

during the contraction- it really takes the edge off- you can still feel the contraction but that hard peak of the contraction is blunted. From an outsider (outside the US) the choices of Nothing or an epidural are a bit extreme- there are women who can get through labour without an epi if there is another pain relief option such as gas and air. I don't quite understand why they don't offer it there.


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## blessedmomma

they have other drug options here, just not many women choose them. they make the baby groggy, unlike the epidural. there is also a walking epidural where it only numbs the mid-region and the woman is still able to walk and get into whatever position she wants for labor/birth. i have had nitrus oxide (gas and air) for dental work and that loopy feeling even for a moment made me feel sick.

there is also birthing pools in the hospital, options for mom to look into for accupressure, hypnobirthing, doula/midwife support, lamaze method, bradley method, etc, etc, etc there are actually a lot of options for birthing women in the US


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## babymomma37

Here in Western Kentucky i dont think it is an option or i havent heard if it is. I dont want an epidural and was looking forward to gas and air if needed and was gutted when i found out its not common here. Although my hospital has a few pain relief such as some kind of shot they give you that relieves pain and they can also give you a shot in the vagina that numbs it so it wont hurt as bad been the baby is actually coming out. They also will cut the skin between the vagina and anal if they think you will tear... Ugh 8 weeks left all this information and im still nervous as hell!! Gonna try Natural


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## lauren28

As some one from The UK who used gas an air for birth, I am surprised that it is not used in the US. I found it really helped, and if it was not available I probably would have ended up with an epi.

Again, as some one looking as an outsider, I have watched quite a few programmes about birth from the US, and it seems like there is always a lot of medical intervention. I think in the UK it is the norm to be looked after by a midwife, whereas in the US it is more common to be looked after by a doctor. It also seems that nearly everyone gets given pitocin and an epi - as if it is just an assumption that they will have them?


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## Kage76

to me the choice medically available pain relief options of nothing, pethidine and and epi is pretty short list- i wanted to avoid pethidine like the plague- i did not like the fact it crossed the placental barrier and i did not want to run the risk of jepodising establishing BF. I can tell you now- there would have been no way in HELL i could have done it without gas and air. I think gas and air treads that middle road- it does't have any lasting effect on the baby, you don't require after care like you do with an epi- I mean I still had an epidural- but i could not imagine what it would have been like to wait for the anaesthetist as long as I did without the gas and air. The pain was truly unbearable. I know it fell out of fashion in the US when epidural became available- but being that it used to be available and is available in other counties I don't see why its not more routinely available.


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## blessedmomma

wasnt this thread about whether or not its available? why does every thread have to turn into a debate on bnb?


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## blessedmomma

lauren28 said:


> As some one from The UK who used gas an air for birth, I am surprised that it is not used in the US. I found it really helped, and if it was not available I probably would have ended up with an epi.
> 
> Again, as some one looking as an outsider, I have watched quite a few programmes about birth from the US, and it seems like there is always a lot of medical intervention. I think in the UK it is the norm to be looked after by a midwife, whereas in the US it is more common to be looked after by a doctor. It also seems that nearly everyone gets given pitocin and an epi - as if it is just an assumption that they will have them?

as an outsider i cant judge what women in other countries do. not based on tv especially. if people are in a hospital, receive ANYTHING for pain, and have someone to help out (dr, mw, doula, ob, nurse, etc, does it really matter?) then those are medical interventions. its not assumed everyone will get pitocin or an epi, no matter what is shown on television.


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## Guppy051708

Not everyone recieves interventions like pit and epi however,....i am a child birth educator and a birth doula and here are the stats.....about 95% of all women birthing in the hospital are either induced or augmented at some point in their labor with pitocin...though about 90% of women get an epidural, so its not suprise that pitocin would be used as much as it is. It works both ways, actually. If you go in for the induction and/or labor is sped up with pitocin. those contractions are longer, stronger, and closer together-more painful, thus they get an epi....so you have that...then you have those who go in but then want the epidural and then their labor "slows" so they speed it up with pitocin...though i agree that media has a tendency to skew things like birth....OBEM-USA is basically what i see when i go in to doula a birth, unless the mother is VERY pro natural birth...in which case she usually has to fight for that birth...ive seen that a lot too...and ive gone through that myself.

Not that this matters, i agree with all but those are the statistics and of course ive seen those stats play out time and time again. Though i do not consider having a doula, a MW, a doctor, a nurse an intervention...medical intervention is way different (pitocin, epis, narcotics, episiotomy, c-section, vacuums, forceps, lythomy position, etc) having those support ppl does not mean its a bad thing, but its also not an intervention...though depending on who attends your birth, is already one weight that will decide how things go.


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## blessedmomma

unless you have a home birth with no interventions whatsoever i dont see how anyone could judge whats used. lol sometimes you just have to unsubcribe.:haha:

no, as far as i know gas and air are not offered in kansas :flower:


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## Guppy051708

sorry...t wasn't that i was aruging with you bc i understood your stance and i do agree with you, I apologize if that came across differently :flow: but i figured a lot of ppl would be reading this thread and i think they should have the facts too :D I wouldn't have posted if it didn't come up, but it did and i think its important, especially for American women, to know :flower:


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## blessedmomma

american women have every right to a birth away from a medical establishment. or without using anything to labor. maybe thats not what they choose, but its an option. i have 5 children and never felt anything "pushed" on me. but maybe my state is much different. :shrug: i know whats available and i make the best decision i can every time. maybe if everyone wants to debate it, they can start a debate thread on that.


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## Wildfire81

Not in Missouri, but if it was offered I would not have wanted it.


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## Guppy051708

i totally agree :D
they have rights but sometimes are pressured a certain way. And even if it is an option, the fact of the matter is, sometimes its not PRESENTED as an option. It really just depends on the views of the provider. and the knowledge of the woman. Thats why doulas are so invaluable in todays birthing world. I wish women knew their rights...many are led to believe they simply do not have rights just bc they are having a baby. Im glad you know your options! Thats great! i think informed choices is DEF the way it should be...but the reality is, its not, usually :( Though, i had to fight for my natural birth...very much so...and i know way too many other ppl that have had to as well..i did get it in the end...but its backwards when you have to fight for something thats normal and natural...thats why im getting the hell out of the hospial this time :haha:

[i am agreeing with you ;) and i dont see this as a debate at all since we agree :shrug:]
But i provided facts. Its great that you and i know what options are really out there and are well educated on the matter, but not everyone is. It came up and i feel it should have been discussed. If it wouldn't have come up i never would have said anything. Anywho, i see this is bothersome, so i will reiterate my answer to the OP in case it got buried with this chat :flower:

It is available in one hospital in New Hampshire. I have lived in Pennsylvania as well, and in central PA that was never an option....however, DartmouthHitchock (the hospial in NH that has it available) is a teaching school and has been doing a lot of research on it...i think, as women take back their births, that you will see this become an option more frequently, but that will for sure take time and wont be a quick thing.


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## lauren28

blessedmomma said:


> lauren28 said:
> 
> 
> As some one from The UK who used gas an air for birth, I am surprised that it is not used in the US. I found it really helped, and if it was not available I probably would have ended up with an epi.
> 
> Again, as some one looking as an outsider, I have watched quite a few programmes about birth from the US, and it seems like there is always a lot of medical intervention. I think in the UK it is the norm to be looked after by a midwife, whereas in the US it is more common to be looked after by a doctor. It also seems that nearly everyone gets given pitocin and an epi - as if it is just an assumption that they will have them?
> 
> as an outsider i cant judge what women in other countries do. not based on tv especially. if people are in a hospital, receive ANYTHING for pain, and have someone to help out (dr, mw, doula, ob, nurse, etc, does it really matter?) then those are medical interventions. its not assumed everyone will get pitocin or an epi, no matter what is shown on television.Click to expand...

I hope I didn't offend because that certainly was not the intention. I was just saying that that s how it is represented. I am certainly not judging. People have the right to use whatever they want - it certainly isn't easy and I would not judge anyone's choice.


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## Chelsea.ann1

I got a drug intravenously that gave me the effects ppl are describing gas and air have. 

I was in BAD ACTIVE LABOR, prior to getting this stuff I was hyperventilating, shaking, totally out of body kind of pain (don't sit still in labor!! that's what caused it to get unmanigable for me!) .. anyways.. they gave me this in my IV and omgsshh i felt like i was floating around, very drunk like, couldn't stop smiling.. could still feel the pain but wasn't bad because my mind was TOTALLY somewhere else... LOVED IT.

I can try to find the name of the drug if you'd like?


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## Futuremommy1

There are 5 hospitals (I think it was 5 maybe at most 7) in the US that offer gas and air I remember one is in Cali (southern I believe) 2 on the east coast and the rest in the mid area. I believe they are either new teaching hospitals with a focus on med free births or highly funded birthing centers attached to hospitals. 

A google search will pull up the list of hospitals that offer it. It's been about 5 months since I found the info


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