epidural question

[solitaire89]

Again, my understanding of the US system is that it is not administered WITH the epi as such, but rather administered routinely. I watched "the business of being born" recently, and there is a whole section on the routine administration of pitocin during normal labour. I hasten to add that, not being in the US, I haven't looked at their system in great detail, so I could be very wrong, but the likes of "the business of being born" and other US childbirth documentaries seem to support the idea of pitocin being the norm.

 

[DLA]

Again, my understanding of the US system is that it is not administered WITH the epi as such, but rather administered routinely. I watched "the business of being born" recently, and there is a whole section on the routine administration of pitocin during normal labour. I hasten to add that, not being in the US, I haven't looked at their system in great detail, so I could be very wrong, but the likes of "the business of being born" and other US childbirth documentaries seem to support the idea of pitocin being the norm.

I think it depends on the practice. I didn't have any pitocin and made it clear I don't want it pushed on me even if my labor ended up being long. This was 100% respected and agreed with by my doctors. I see on TV a lot that pitocin is encouraged and used frequently but I don't think that's necessarily what happens all the time in reality, more what seems to be shown on TV. I think I know one person that had it because she was 2 weeks overdue.

 

[solitaire89]

Ah, sounds like here in the UK where stats vary wildly between hospitals for all things birth related!! I'd be interested to hear what your OB says about the oxytocin with the epi.

 

[DLA]

Yeah really think it depends on the doctor. I'm sure there are doctors out there that push interventions for convenience. I would avoid them like the plague! But there's a lot good doctors to that support personal birth plans, hypnobirthing etc. Where I go is awesome. They give me the facts and don't push me or guilt me any which way!

 

[solitaire89]

Yeah really think it depends on the doctor. I'm sure there are doctors out there that push interventions for convenience. I would avoid them like the plague! But there's a lot good doctors to that support personal birth plans, hypnobirthing etc. Where I go is awesome. They give me the facts and don't push me or guilt me any which way!

I'm sure you're right about the medical staff that push interventions! Again, it's part of the reason why I chose to homebirth! I'm really glad that you found someone who supports your wishes.

 

[AmandaBaby]

I had an epidural and required ventouse to get my daughter out but I think it had more to do with her size.

If you do decide to have an epidural though, ask to have it topped up if you start feeling pain close to when you may have to start pushing... I asked and they didn't do it and I felt EVERYTHING!! So stand up for yourself - the whole labour process It's the one thing I learnt x

 

[summer rain]

AFAIK patient controlled, mobile/walking and low dose epidurals aren't routine in UK hospitals. Some UK hospitals do offer them but as far as I know and I have friends all over the show, most hospitals don't. I was reading a very pro-epidural obstetrician claiming all UK hospitals offer mobile epidurals as standard and his claim they were perfectly safe was based on this (wrong) assumption. I know in the US most epidurals are of the lower dose, 'mobile' type but in the UK they are not its only ladies on here and who I have read about in magazines who have had the more modern types of epidural no-one I know IRL. I know hundreds of women who have had epidurals too, OH has a huge extended family and most of my friends have had an epidural with their eldest (something they now regret in most cases) only one of them didn't need an assisted delivery or c-section and with her it was getting close to that point but when they told her of the possibility she pushed like the clappers and didnt even need stitches or anything xx

 

[luz]

I had an epidural and had my baby out in 1 push, i think it really just depends on the person. a lot of women have no clue how to push and so an epidural only makes things worse since they can't feel the need to push or where they are actually pushing. I had a great experience with my epidural, and would definitely recommend it to others!

The thing that really persuaded me to get one was when they told me at our pre-natal class that if you don't have one and you have to go for an emergency c-section they have to knock you out and that means your baby is born unconscious as well and they have to revive it.... scary stuff. So i'd say just get the epidural for that reason alone!

 

[Mummy_to_be87]

I had an epidural and didnt need intervention at all, wasnt even close to getting any intervention! I enjoyed the whole experience, was relaxed and the labour went faster than I imagined, because I didnt feel the contractions I could sleep and was physically prepared for the pushing stage, my pushing stage lasted for 10 minutes and I didnt tear or need cut, the best experience I have ever had and I would do it again this time

 

[Jenafyr4]

A little different perspective.... I have 4 kids, I delivered all of them naturally (mostly...had some Demerol) I LOVED the experience, although painful, I wouldn't want an epidural. BUT recently had a Tubal Reversal and was given an epidural. I got the worst spinal headache afterwards and had to have a blood patch done. From what I hear its rather common, but I have never heard of it before.

So soon I will be TTC another and I wont be getting an epidural when its time....GL in your choice

 

[summer rain]

I had an epidural and had my baby out in 1 push, i think it really just depends on the person. a lot of women have no clue how to push and so an epidural only makes things worse since they can't feel the need to push or where they are actually pushing. I had a great experience with my epidural, and would definitely recommend it to others!

The thing that really persuaded me to get one was when they told me at our pre-natal class that if you don't have one and you have to go for an emergency c-section they have to knock you out and that means your baby is born unconscious as well and they have to revive it.... scary stuff. So i'd say just get the epidural for that reason alone!

Not true, at least not in the UK. They can give you an epidural or a spinal block and it kicks in very quickly and a c-section under GA doesn't always result in baby being knocked out though it is a possibility. Xx

 

[torrie118]

I have had 2 epidurals and one without. The only one I needed any kind of assistance with was the one without. The needed to use a vacuum because I was just too tired after hours of pushing.

 

[tristansmum]

I had an epidural and had my baby out in 1 push, i think it really just depends on the person. a lot of women have no clue how to push and so an epidural only makes things worse since they can't feel the need to push or where they are actually pushing. I had a great experience with my epidural, and would definitely recommend it to others!

The thing that really persuaded me to get one was when they told me at our pre-natal class that if you don't have one and you have to go for an emergency c-section they have to knock you out and that means your baby is born unconscious as well and they have to revive it.... scary stuff. So i'd say just get the epidural for that reason alone!

Not true, at least not in the UK. They can give you an epidural or a spinal block and it kicks in very quickly and a c-section under GA doesn't always result in baby being knocked out though it is a possibility. Xx

Yep I agree. I laboured and pushed without epidural. Baby was stuck and even though I had a cat 1 c section they still had time to give me a spinal block. I was literally numb in a minute from needle in my back.

 

[summer rain]

The chance of needing an emergency c-section which requires a GA is very, very remote do it totally isn't worth the risks of getting an epidural as a 'just in case' measure. The only ladies I have known who needed a GA for a c-section were ladies who weren't in labour but their baby stopped moving or something sudden happened before they went into labour and a GA was decided to be the only option and I only know a couple of ladies this happened to over a period of many years. In most cases an emergency c-section isn't a 'crash' section and there is still a window of time to prepare for it xx

 

[aliss]

I had shoulder dystocia with both my babies. The first one (epidural) had to be manually extracted (literally she shoved her hand up there, broke his collarbone, and pulled him out) because the paralysis prevented me from getting him out (you can't use forceps/ventouse). The second one (no pain relief), I just had to do a quick McRobets maneuver (shove your knees) and he popped out with a tug. I wouldn't ever get the epidural again, it wasn't worth it. Yes, the non-epidural labour is excruciating but the lack of medical intervention/safer delivery was well worth it

 

[d_b]

We were given some stats in our prenatal course but were told that there hadn't been a study done at our hospital comparing epidural vs assisted birth.

I know 5 ladies who had epidurals over the past year or two.. One needed forceps, one a ventouse and two had csections. The other had no intervention. Interestingly my friend who had no intervention had a super strong epidural - she felt nothing, never had to top it up, and couldn't move for 6 hours before or after the birth. The one who had a csection had a walking epidural which was not working at all towards the end.

Myself and 2 other friends had no epidural and no intervention.

I think epidural and intervention are linked but may be a coincidence in some cases, where the woman feels the need for an epidural because her labour is very long or extremely painful (indicating baby is in the wrong position).. In those cases intervention may have happened regardless of epidural. But that is just my theory!

 

[d_b]

I had an epidural and had my baby out in 1 push, i think it really just depends on the person. a lot of women have no clue how to push and so an epidural only makes things worse since they can't feel the need to push or where they are actually pushing. I had a great experience with my epidural, and would definitely recommend it to others!

The thing that really persuaded me to get one was when they told me at our pre-natal class that if you don't have one and you have to go for an emergency c-section they have to knock you out and that means your baby is born unconscious as well and they have to revive it.... scary stuff. So i'd say just get the epidural for that reason alone!

Not true, at least not in the UK. They can give you an epidural or a spinal block and it kicks in very quickly and a c-section under GA doesn't always result in baby being knocked out though it is a possibility. Xx

My friend had an epidural in for about 20 hours by the time she went for her section. The epidural worked really well at first but when she got to surgery it was no longer working despite being topped up and because of that she got put under GA. She wants an elective section for her next so she can be awake for the birth.

I still don't know why they didn't try a spinal first though. The section wasn't a real emergency, baby was fine but she had been pushing for hours and nothing was happening. I have heard of women getting a spinal on top of an epidural for a section.. We are in Canada, maybe they don't do it here?

 

[jellybean83]

Had an epi with my second child,Once at the pushing stage i pushed for about 5 Minutes and he was born,No tears or grazes,Overall happy with the releif it provided.

 

[atayl16]

Had epidural with 3 out of 4 so far, and no assisted delivery. With my last one, I literally pushed for 3 minutes (of course, it was my 4th delivery lol).

 

[socitycourty]

that statistic is wrong.

Out of 5 women who had babies in my family in 2012....all of them had epidurals, and only one had to have intervention and that was me, I had an EMCS after 32 hours of labor and baby and I had a raging infection. the epidural did not cause this, my LO was in a transverse position and would not have descended enough to be born which is why we were both ill.

It's simply not true. I got to the pushing stage and even though I Had an awesome epidural I could still push and feel what I was doing.