epidural discussion

[MermaidMom]

interesting arguments going on over in first trimester today.... you know its really sad to me that people DONT want to feel the exhilaration of childbirth and holding their undrugged baby in their arms right after birth. i wouldnt miss that moment for the world. i am happy for everyone though that it doesnt necessarily determine the bond between mother and baby over time.... but those first moments.... those are precious and worth protecting. its nice to hear everyones stories here about natural childbirth... its much more encouraging to me. so thank you

 

[moomin_troll]

epidurals are there for a good reason, i just think those who use them must no what the risks are. i find it weird when first time mums say they are going to have a epidural without even experiencing labour.

i tend to stay away from those threads now because even tho im not against epidurals i egt treated like i am because i want a as close to natural birth as i can

 

[SoyLatte]

LOL, I don't want to deny myself of feeling it all. I want to proudly say when its over that I did it naturally just like women did centuries before me!

 

[Nikki_d72]

And despite what the medicals will tell you, epidurals CAN affect your baby - my DD wouldn't feed for nearly 16hrs, she was so out of it after my epi last time, it was a scary time. I'm looking forward to feeling everything this time too, and not being helpless, that's a horrible feeling.

 

[MermaidMom]

thats scary nikki... sorry you had to experience that when i mentioned the side effects on babies most people just ignored me and then someone else called me a scare mongrel, even though i wasnt presenting the info in an attacking way... just posted a link. i think people dont WANT to know. i think child birth is made out to be scary and awful in our society and as a result women are getting robbed of a wonderful experience. sad.

 

[kittycat18]

I would never have an Epidural. My mother was a staff nurse in Casualty (A&E) in a local Hospital and a woman came in 9 days after giving birth to her baby because she no longer had feeling from the waist down. She had an epidural during labour and she was actually admitted to the Hospital and later confirmed to be paralysed from the waist down. A family friend also had an Epidural with her daughter and was left needing a permanent catheter with District Nurses coming in everyday to re-site her catheter... Too many horror stories in my local area

I want a water birth and I want to remember every second of it!!

 

[pester]

I find it intersting all the threads about whats safe to eat/do/take during pregnancy. All the things people will avoid during pregnancy yet come birth its bring on the drugs. I am not against epidurals either. I'm for informed choice.

I'll admit to being scared about birth. This is my first so I can't KNOW what labor will be like. Its scary only because its an unknown. It hard with so much of the messages given is about how painfull birth is. Its a lot harder to find impowering postive birth stories.

 

[hot tea]

I would never, ever get an epi unless it was absolutely necessary. I had a completely natural birth with my first and will do the same thing again, absolutely.

I try not to judge but, like you, I cannot relate to wanting an epidural.

 

[MermaidMom]

i agree pester... in fact if i hadnt had my miscarriage, i dont honestly know if i could have gone through natural labor/birth. i was terrified of the pain because i didnt know when it would stop or how much worse it was going to get. i used cytotec and labored for 4 hours. my doctor told me the labor (not the pushing mind you!) was much more intense than at fullterm (i was 4 months along) because everything was so much smaller and it took a lot more force to break my water. the contractions were also constant rather in waves... it was truly an awful experience.... but.... now i know i can do it! and when everything did come out and i saw my baby... i can say that (oddly enough) it was one of the happiest times of my life. i was on the most INCREDIBLE high of my life from all the birth hormones. i wanted to hold my baby forever.... even though he was lifeless... i loved him. i cant even imagine what its going to be like at fullterm and having a lovely warm crying baby to hold. amazing. i think the key to natural childbirth is not to fear it but to give yourself over to it entirely. my goal with this next labor/delivery is to be an observer of the pain, but not to participate in it. i want to be singing and laughing (when possible). youtube some videos of people singing during transition.. its incredible!

 

[Samantha675]

I find it intersting all the threads about whats safe to eat/do/take during pregnancy. All the things people will avoid during pregnancy yet come birth its bring on the drugs. I am not against epidurals either. I'm for informed choice.

I'll admit to being scared about birth. This is my first so I can't KNOW what labor will be like. Its scary only because its an unknown. It hard with so much of the messages given is about how painfull birth is. Its a lot harder to find impowering postive birth stories.

Exactly. Heaven forbid you have a glass of wine when pregnant, but once laboring let's go with the heavy narcotics.

 

[Nikki_d72]

i agree pester... in fact if i hadnt had my miscarriage, i dont honestly know if i could have gone through natural labor/birth. i was terrified of the pain because i didnt know when it would stop or how much worse it was going to get. i used cytotec and labored for 4 hours. my doctor told me the labor (not the pushing mind you!) was much more intense than at fullterm (i was 4 months along) because everything was so much smaller and it took a lot more force to break my water. the contractions were also constant rather in waves... it was truly an awful experience.... but.... now i know i can do it! and when everything did come out and i saw my baby... i can say that (oddly enough) it was one of the happiest times of my life. i was on the most INCREDIBLE high of my life from all the birth hormones. i wanted to hold my baby forever.... even though he was lifeless... i loved him. i cant even imagine what its going to be like at fullterm and having a lovely warm crying baby to hold. amazing. i think the key to natural childbirth is not to fear it but to give yourself over to it entirely. my goal with this next labor/delivery is to be an observer of the pain, but not to participate in it. i want to be singing and laughing (when possible). youtube some videos of people singing during transition.. its incredible!

So, so sorry you had to go though that, Mermaidmom.

I Feel bad for my DD more than me, I wish I had educated myself better and kept control over the whole situation, it'll be a whole different ballgame this time!

I'd agree with you regarding the women who are so cautious regarding diet, medicines etc in pregnancy, yet don't make the link with the drugs in labour. I'm pretty sure I was told that the epi would only affect me, due to where it was sited and the way it acted etc, this clearly wasn't the case. I've also read about cases where the epi or spinal has affected the woman's automatic breathing part of the brain (my own brain is too foggy to remember the proper name, sorry - hypothalamus, maybe?) and shut down her breathing completely, as well as the paralysis stories - it's no small thing, like it's made out to be.

 

[Soos]

i'm sorry for your loss MermaidMom((

i lost my baby full term during labor (cord prolapse) and it was a back to back HORRIBLE truly HORRIBLE labor. i survived the pain, both emotional and physical and i know i can handle it. we are much stronger than we think we are. if things were different and i had my screaming baby in my arms i'd probably forget the pain straight away.
i just don't see a point in injecting narcotic to my spine with giant needle and put myself and my long awaited baby at risk while having a normal labor. that's insane!!
on other hand i think epidural is a blessing from God during c section. being able to see your baby straight away is much better than old fashioned general anesthesia. i think it helps mothers to bond with their munchkins better in this case. so yeah, epidural is a medical exception for me, not a candy

 

[chuck]

I have the same opinion os my Mw who was very vocal about pain relief during labour -she said she was fed up of silly OB's calling her a heartless old cow for 'wanting' women to go through agony during childbirth' LOL

She and I feel that while epi's have their place they shouldn't be on the menu for all labouring women, they should be reserved for where they are needed - women who are having painful interventions/operative births.

Women should be educated about labour and birth and use other better techniques than poisoning your nervous system to relive the intensity of childbirth.

 

[tristansmum]

i didn't want an epidural myself nor did i want pethadine. However, once i labour i found it too painful and i had pethadine. in someways i wish i hadn't because i can't remember my labour. however, i had been up for about 28 hours at this point and it allowed me to sleep between contractions which i needed. I ended up in theatre with a full spinal block for a c section after he became stuck and forceps couldn't turn him. i think if you have not experiencedlabour its so hard to say what you are going to do... be that wanting an epidural or saying you are not going to have anything. its good to plan but you also need to be flexible and see how you feel at the time. everyone has different pain thresholds and you may surprise yourself on how well you do or you may find you need those drugs! lol Next time i'm going to try a vbac with gas and air... if i can't do it i won't bet myself up but i think its worth a try.

 

[chuck]

i didn't want an epidural myself nor did i want pethadine. However, once i labour i found it too painful and i had pethadine. in someways i wish i hadn't because i can't remember my labour. however, i had been up for about 28 hours at this point and it allowed me to sleep between contractions which i needed. I ended up in theatre with a full spinal block for a c section after he became stuck and forceps couldn't turn him. i think if you have not experiencedlabour its so hard to say what you are going to do... be that wanting an epidural or saying you are not going to have anything. its good to plan but you also need to be flexible and see how you feel at the time. everyone has different pain thresholds and you may surprise yourself on how well you do or you may find you need those drugs! lol Next time i'm going to try a vbac with gas and air... if i can't do it i won't bet myself up but i think its worth a try.

You can do it join me in the VBAC on GnA club! I had Pethadine, epi, spinal and morphine 1st time around and hated every second of it, coming down of those drugs was disgusting I can barely remember the first few days and I'm trying to forget the baby removal.

I couldnt believe how amazing I felt after having my son with only GnA, planned HBAC but transferred but still home within 24 hours eating takeaway at the table and had a group of friends around for beers and vindaloo the next day LOL! Up and about in no time. It was brill.

Allow what you went through to make you stronger rater than weaken you with fear.

 

[chuck]

Oh aha...here's the research article on the pro's and con's of Epi's I posted a while back
https://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=2010
https://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=2014
https://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=2019

 

[leelee]

i didn't want an epidural myself nor did i want pethadine. However, once i labour i found it too painful and i had pethadine. in someways i wish i hadn't because i can't remember my labour. however, i had been up for about 28 hours at this point and it allowed me to sleep between contractions which i needed. I ended up in theatre with a full spinal block for a c section after he became stuck and forceps couldn't turn him. i think if you have not experiencedlabour its so hard to say what you are going to do... be that wanting an epidural or saying you are not going to have anything. its good to plan but you also need to be flexible and see how you feel at the time. everyone has different pain thresholds and you may surprise yourself on how well you do or you may find you need those drugs! lol Next time i'm going to try a vbac with gas and air... if i can't do it i won't bet myself up but i think its worth a try.

I totally agree with all that you have said Tristansmum. I think you need to have a very open mind when it comes to labour. Flexibility is the key.

When I had my LO I had been to hypnobirthing classes and was determined to have a natural birth. It all started so well, I arrived at the hospital at 5cm dilated and was very calm. I then jumped into the pool and managed the surges very well up until 9cm. However, LO had other ideas and I had an anterior lip so he couldn't budge past 9cm. I stayed at 9cms for hours and eventually had to have an epidural.

Even though I had an epidural and was 9cm it still took another 5 hours for LO to be born and he had to be manually turned by a consultant. I then ended up having an episiotomy and an emergency forceps delivery.

However, due to an excellent midwife, my OH and my Mum I felt in control at all times and was fully with it and remember every detail of the labour. When LO was born he was very calm, and stayed awake for 4 hours just taking in the world.

In this case, I needed the epidural and it enabled me to have a lovely birthing experience. This time I really really want to have a natural birth and I hope I achieve my aim. If I need intervention I won't hesitate to use it again. When used appropriately it is a lifesaver!

 

[NaturalMomma]

Where I live people think you're crazy if you go unmedicated. They assume labor is this horrible pain that will last for hours on end, when it's not and it doesn't. A lot of them come up with so many excuses as to why the Epidural is good, but most dont' know the affects because the hospitals don't really say anything. I've had the Epidural with my first, I have back pain still when I lay down on a hard surfice (like when working out doing floor exercises) and it's been 4 years. I also had a horrible bond for a long time with ds1 because I was very disconnected to everything at the time of birth. ds1 also needed oxygen when born so I couldn't hold him for ahwile, and was actually the last person to hold him. Doctors don't tell you these things before getting the Epidural, it's after you have it and you're experiencing these things that they say it was from the Epidural. My second son was born at home with no medications and it was so amazing. Hardly any pain, lasted for a short time, and that hormone rush of love and everything good after birth was truly amazing.

 

[pester]

Where I live people think you're crazy if you go unmedicated. They assume labor is this horrible pain that will last for hours on end, when it's not and it doesn't. A lot of them come up with so many excuses as to why the Epidural is good, but most dont' know the affects because the hospitals don't really say anything. I've had the Epidural with my first, I have back pain still when I lay down on a hard surfice (like when working out doing floor exercises) and it's been 4 years. I also had a horrible bond for a long time with ds1 because I was very disconnected to everything at the time of birth. ds1 also needed oxygen when born so I couldn't hold him for ahwile, and was actually the last person to hold him. Doctors don't tell you these things before getting the Epidural, it's after you have it and you're experiencing these things that they say it was from the Epidural. My second son was born at home with no medications and it was so amazing. Hardly any pain, lasted for a short time, and that hormone rush of love and everything good after birth was truly amazing.

I totaly understand. I've already gotten the epidural are great, C-sections arn't bad even better when you plan them, You don't get a metal for doing it natural(in sarcastic tone). Mostly his family is ignorant(by that I mean never thought to question the "standard" way). I think they will be supportive but I will need to educate them alot. My SIL family is epi/c-sec happy. That side is going to be the tough one for me. They arn't open to accepting somthing different.

 

[Soos]

NaturalMomma, i saw your signature (homebirthing, homeschooling etc) and i want to say that you are my hero