Epi question!

[HaileysMommy1]

Hey ladies! So I'm going to try for a natural birth in a hospital.. I'm in the US and the only birthing center near me is booked for September and the only midwives near us only do home births and I don't have that option for other reasons. So hospital it is! Now I'm just trying to educate myself on all the options and figure out what I want to do as far as my birth plan.

So, I know a lot of ladies who opt to wait as long as possible to get an epidural. My question is, why wait as long as possible to get one if you're going to get one in the first place? Is there a benefit to having an epi only for a short time as opposed to longer? What are the risks and downsides if an epi anyway?

I just didn't know if I should go in with the mindset that I'll wait as long as possible until I cave, or I should just go in thinking I won't be getting one at all.

Thanks!

 

[Pixxie]

I'll try and explain as best I can, when you have an epidural you can't remain active which will low down labour, waiting as long as possible will help reduce the chance of intervention I suppose. But normally when baby moves into the birth canal the muscles there turn babys head meaning that baby can get out easily, when you have an epidural this doesnt happen and so it is much harder to get the baby out. You push for longer, baby is at higher risk of distress and you're more likely to end up with csection or forceps.

 

[HaileysMommy1]

Thank you Pixxie! I didn't know most of that. Makes me feel a lot more confident in my decision to go all natural

 

[Pixxie]

Just remember the epidural wasn't invented until the 50s, if no one needed it before that then you don't either!

 

[01k204]

I have had births with both an epi and without. I'll write them below. Having the epi never slowed down my labor, it actually sped it up.

I was induced with dd and the contractions were causing me to tense up (stuck at 3 cm for 7 hrs). The epi relaxed me and I went from being dilated from 3 to 10 in 45 minutes. I then pushed my dd out in 4 pushes.

With my son I went into labor naturally at home (hung out in the shower). My dh dragged me to the hospital as I thought it was false labor. At the hospital I was dilated to an 8. Took about 40 min to get to 10 and 2 pushes to get him out.

The epi can slow down labor and make pushing longer, but it's not certain that it will. If I am blessed with another baby I would not get an epi because I liked being able to get up right after and being mobile during labor. It is ultimately your choice, you need to make the decision that is going to be best for you and your baby. GL!

BTW - so happy for you that you have your rainbow! Take care!!!

 

[HaileysMommy1]

01k, it's good to see both sides and how it can be either a benefit or a negative based on your situation! So do you think going into labor naturally helped you to relax and dilate faster or was that based on other factors?

And thank you!!! I'm so happy

 

[01k204]

I think that pitocin is tough stuff and makes contractions way more intense. That being said, with my youngest dd I was induced and didn't have an epi. It was much harder to relax, but it happened as it will with all labors. My advice would be to not get induced, if you can help it.

That being said, do what is best for you. With or without an epi, having a baby is hard work. If you choose to go natural that is great (I personally enjoyed it more), but it's also great to have an epi, if that's what works for you. Don't pressure yourself either way so you can enjoy the experience.

I will look forward to seeing more updates about your lo! Take care!!

 

[HaileysMommy1]

I was induced with DD and they gave me an epi right away. I didn't feel a THING the entire time, and I honestly can't tell you what a contraction even feels like. I feel like I completely missed out on the experience, that's why I decided to go natural this time. I think it would be amazing going into labor and the excitement that comes along with that. I will never agree to induction again (unless medically necessary). So I'm going to try it without an epi! But I agree, will be doing whatever it takes to make this the best experience possible.

Thanks

 

[Pixxie]

Oh yes if you're induced the contractions are mental, you'll probably want an epi if you're induced. Look into your options though, you can refuse induction as long as you want, plenty of ladies go 43+ weeks with no problems. If you go that far over though its usually because the dates were wrong!

 

[LockandKey]

I'm not exactly sure of the risks, other than epi's have been known to slow your labor down a lot, sometimes it may go so slow that the doctors end up not happy with your progression, and then they try to shove pitocin down your iv as well to speed it up, yay more intervention, when it was already slowed down in the first place because you had gotten the epi

I'm sure there are other ladies here that know more about epi's than I do, and can fill you in more on that, so here I am just going to share my own experience as I had an epi birth with my first (not my original plan!)

Once you get an epi, you can expect to stay in bed the remainder of your labor, and during the birth as well, for me that was close to 15 hrs on a hard hospital bed (UGH!!!) and being an independent person who much prefers to be in control of her life and the things going on, for me, this was TORTURE! I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything for myself at all, I had to have a catheter shoved up my pee hole, and I had to wait around for the nurses to come in so they could get me whatever it was I wanted or needed instead of having the ability to get it myself. There was one point where I had to go #2, and not being able to get out of bed, I had to have 2 people help life my lower half up so I could go in one of those portable bowls. Not only was it embarrassing, but I felt like a sick, dying animal rather than the healthy, 20 something woman I truly was

When it came time to push, that was a fail too, since the drugs dulled a lot of my instincts and senses, I couldn't really tell when I needed to push at all, instead, I had nurses and doctors reading the monitor for when I was having a contraction and then yelled at me to push instead of me knowing when to push and following what my body was telling me.

Also keep in mind that if you get an epi, there is a good chance you will have to push on your back, unless you have your nurse or OH/DH help move you to the side, and birthing on your back reduces your pelvic opening by at least 40% if you dont get an epi and are able to use your legs and lower body during the birth, the pushing stage will most likely be so much better if you can get into an all fours or squatting position.

The epi birth experience was such a complete turn off for me that I promised myself I would never have drugs during labor and birth again.

Sorry for the super long rant

 

[BunnyN]

The drugs in an epi will pass to your baby also. Lot's of doctors say they don't but I think it's pretty well proven that they do it's just that they are not as bad as some drugs for passing to the baby. For me that is a big motivator not to have an epi, and it would also be a reason to wait as long as possible, the less time you are on it the less drugs are pumped into your system and to the baby. Some women have a very long labour and become so exhausted that they can't get the baby out and are given a CS. An epi can give mum a chance to rest enough so that she can continue with a normal labour, I would consider an epi under those circumstances.

 

[NaturalMomma]

Here is a good article on the risks to an epidural https://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth/epidurals-real-risks

In short they are --

* Can slow down labor
* Can cause an infection, which many Doctors then say woman has to have an immediate c-section because they cannot determine between a epi fever and an infection causing a fever
* Short and long term spinal headache
* Can disconnect mom from experience
* Mom cannot get out of bed
* Will have to have directed pushing which has a whole host of risks itself
* Will have to have an IV of fluids
* Will need a catheter
* Increases the use of vacuum or forceps delivery
* DOES pass through the placenta and can make baby sleepy at birth
* Can make baby need oxygen at birth
* Can make baby be seperated from mom at birth
* Difficult nursing

I've had a birth with an epi, and homebirth. I didn't like the epi at all. I was disconnected, had vacuum extraction which made me tear, my son was born very sleepy and needed oxygen, he would not nurse after birth. My homebirth was much better. Had a very alert baby and it was awesome being able to feel him be born. I am planning another homebirth.

I will say that I'm not anti epi or think the epi is evil. But I do think that it should be reserved for medical reasons and not being pushed as much as it is in the Us. Many hospitals here have a 90-95% epi rate, which is ridiculous.

 

[StranjeGirl]

I honestly think you should just see how you feel at the moment. My initial thought from the beginning was that I wanted to do it naturally, but if I needed the epidural I had no problem with that. Then I did the hypnobabies course and they made us feel like if we got the epidural the world would end. The epidural is terrible for us and all these terrible things could happen etc etc, and I got totally freaked out. When the time came I had to be induced and The pain came on pretty quickly but I wasn't dilating quickly. Finally I decided to get the epidural and it allowed me to relax and I dllated very quickly. She was born 1.5 hours after the epi kicked in and I pushed for a total of 15 minutes (which is pretty good for a first pregnancy) I honestly think the epidural allowed me to relax and dilate. They shut it off when I started pushing and maybe I only had a small amount because I felt everything. It was still painful and hard, but no where near as painful as the constant contractions. After bonding with the baby and breast feeding etc, they wheeled me into my room and I was able to walk to the bathroom by myself. I'm telling you this so you go in not feeling scared. We don't need to be martyrs here. We've been using epdiurals for a long time and if you want to do things naturally I think that is wonderful. But if it gets to be to much don't be hard on yourself and kill yourself. I have a beautiful healthy baby who has never been sick and is just perfect. Being induced and having an epidural wasn't plan A for me, but who cares? I had a 7 hour labor and ended up with a healthy baby and healthy me. Whatever you feel is the right decision at the time, go with what you feel and don't let anyone make you feel bad about it. In the end a safe baby and safe mama is what is important!!
Just to add baby was totally alert and took to feeding right away. I had absolutely no feelign of disconnect at all as I felt everything...it just wasn't extremely painful like it was without it. And the baby did not seem affected in the least. She was the same little firecracker then as she is now!

 

[justkitty]

Hiya
After 36hours of labour , 8 of those on pitocin (nasty stuff) and dilated 0.5cm every 4hrs, failed home birth, I got an epi
And it was amazing as it allows me to rest. 8hrs later & 3hr pushing, ds was born alert & perfect. Did get bladder prolapse but that can happen without epi. It is the least likely drug to affect baby but the risk of blood pressure dropping is high in you.

 

[aliss]

My epidural left me unable to push properly and my doctor had to break my son's collarbone to pull him out when he got stuck with dystocia. Horrible. My second boy had dystocia too but without the epidural I was able to maneuver him out physically.

I don't plan on having more children but if I did, I would never use the epidural again in a vaginal labour. Ever!

 

[HaileysMommy1]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate every single one of your responses! I am definitely not going to be induced so I won't have to worry about pitocin and the effects it has on contractions and labor. But I am going to go into it with an open mind and try and do it naturally for as long as possible, but not beat myself up if I end up needing the epi to relax and help things along. I will however wait as long as possible so I can be active during labor, and if I'm able to go without it completely I'll deliver in another position.

Thanks again ladies!