Epidural- why are people so against it?

[Guppy051708]

It's not that an epidural in and of itself causes a face up baby, but if baby is already face up it certainly isn't going to help getting the baby in a better position (may take that bloody back labor away though) but think about it. When you can freely move in labor that helps the baby get into a better position for birth. If you have an epidural you cant move during birth and if your baby is alreayd face up then you are at the mercy of your body positioning. Its pretty logical. If your baby cant manuever with you on your back or whatever the case may be then that does make it more a challenge to birth a face up. Again, not all women have trouble with this. Some are lucky as stated, and some babies can manuever it just fine. but it something to consider and it is extremely logical. My baby was actually born face up (thats a lot different compared to a baby that was face up and then turns before birthed). Face up babies are hard to birth no matter what (typically), But if i was only able to be flat on my back i know i wouldn't have been able to do it because i pushed for several hours on hands/knees, squatting, kneeling, and pretty much every other position notable. There is no way i could have done those positions if i was immobile.
Either way though, having a face up isn't something you can know in advance, but it was just one of those in hindsite things for me.

 

[little_lady]

I heard that 12% or so of babies will turn face up where the mother has an epidural. That was part of the reason I didn't want one. I really wanted a mobile, natural birth and tried to do the hypnobirthing thing, but clearly my body isnt cut out for labour. I don't know how I could have carried on without being refreshed and recharged which is what the epidural provided.

I do admire those women who do it without!

 

[Fortune Cooki]

It's a good idea to ask your doctor what kind of drug they use for the epidural as there are different kinds. Personally, I'm more afraid of the epidural and its side effects than the thought of natural labor. That being said, I'm having my first, so who knows how I will feel about it when it comes time. I'm worried that the epidural will make me feel nauseated. I will want to move around a lot before pushing: get on my knees, take a shower, etc. My doctor okay'd this, but if I have an epidural I wont' be able to do this. The epidural does not work for every woman for some reason. Sometimes it causes a woman to shiver/shake. If you get it, you have to recover from it. Recovery time varies between women.

Either way, keep an open mind. If your labor is extremely long, then you might benefit from having the epidural to rest and sleep prior to pushing.

 

[aliss]

Having had one of each (epidural by choice AND zero medication by choice), I can completely understand why a woman chooses to have one.

But I will say, that my non-epidural birth, while (obviously) more painful at the time, was much better afterwards. A had a home birth which ended in hospital transfer for precaution (I was pushing in the ambulance). He came out without a broken collarbone (as unlike #1's dystocia, McRoberts maneuver was easy to do), and I was home 3 hours later, and then spent the 1st night in my own bed.

So for me, there is no comparison.

Yes, women died more often in childbirth before. This was not from overwhelming pain - this was primarily from infection and hemmorage. Epidurals do not (in the overwhelmingly vast majority) prevent women from dying (there are some rare circumstances in which epidurals can help prevent blood pressure complications in women with pre-existing conditions), and of course, women with exhaustingly terrible/long labours can get some relief, but the majority of you will be normal women with normal births.

The reason you should want to feel the pain of childbirth, is because your body will tell you when something is not going right. You may not know this if you've never given birth both ways with a complication, but I have, and I can say hand on heart that my body was telling me to get up & get moving and "holy crap, this is going sideways" once I hit past transition. He was in an awful position, and I needed to get him right. You will not know this with an epidural and it's not always obvious to the doctor/nurses.

Good luck with your decisions Fortunately, most of you will never have to worry about that, my particular problem (dystocia) is a 1% rare chance. But it is a good example of why you may want to choose not to have one particularly if you are a girl expecting a large baby or have other risk factors.

 

[melfy77]

It's a good idea to ask your doctor what kind of drug they use for the epidural as there are different kinds. Personally, I'm more afraid of the epidural and its side effects than the thought of natural labor. That being said, I'm having my first, so who knows how I will feel about it when it comes time. I'm worried that the epidural will make me feel nauseated. I will want to move around a lot before pushing: get on my knees, take a shower, etc. My doctor okay'd this, but if I have an epidural I wont' be able to do this. The epidural does not work for every woman for some reason. Sometimes it causes a woman to shiver/shake. If you get it, you have to recover from it. Recovery time varies between women.

Either way, keep an open mind. If your labor is extremely long, then you might benefit from having the epidural to rest and sleep prior to pushing.

Keeping a open mind is essential. I postponed the epidural as long as I could, but I couldn't go very far anyway because I had to stay on the monitor (to make sure baby was ok because of the pitocin). When it got really painful with contractions less than 1 minute apart and only 4 cm dilated, a shower was the last of my concerns, hehe. If helps, I still could have gotten up had I wanted to after I got my epi. I didn't get nauseated nor did I get a headache. I was walking and peeing again less than an hour after birth and by the next day, I was back to my normal walking habit (30-45 minutes walk) i had a GREAT experience. I don't know how my next labor will be. Maybe I won't need to be induced and maybe i won't have back labor, so I will try again natural, but knowing I always have an option

 

[USAF_WIFE]

It's not that an epidural in and of itself causes a face up baby, but if baby is already face up it certainly isn't going to help getting the baby in a better position (may take that bloody back labor away though) but think about it. When you can freely move in labor that helps the baby get into a better position for birth. If you have an epidural you cant move during birth and if your baby is alreayd face up then you are at the mercy of your body positioning. Its pretty logical. If your baby cant manuever with you on your back or whatever the case may be then that does make it more a challenge to birth a face up. Again, not all women have trouble with this. Some are lucky as stated, and some babies can manuever it just fine. but it something to consider and it is extremely logical. My baby was actually born face up (thats a lot different compared to a baby that was face up and then turns before birthed). Face up babies are hard to birth no matter what (typically), But if i was only able to be flat on my back i know i wouldn't have been able to do it because i pushed for several hours on hands/knees, squatting, kneeling, and pretty much every other position notable. There is no way i could have done those positions if i was immobile.
Either way though, having a face up isn't something you can know in advance, but it was just one of those in hindsite things for me.

No I was not saying the epi causes the baby to be face up. I said I was not aware it would have any effect. My son literally turned RIGHT as he was coming out the doctor was telling me this as I was pushing and I did have to work a fair bit harder but I still managed fine. As I said my epi only numbed one leg on one side.

 

[Guppy051708]

It's not that an epidural in and of itself causes a face up baby, but if baby is already face up it certainly isn't going to help getting the baby in a better position (may take that bloody back labor away though) but think about it. When you can freely move in labor that helps the baby get into a better position for birth. If you have an epidural you cant move during birth and if your baby is alreayd face up then you are at the mercy of your body positioning. Its pretty logical. If your baby cant manuever with you on your back or whatever the case may be then that does make it more a challenge to birth a face up. Again, not all women have trouble with this. Some are lucky as stated, and some babies can manuever it just fine. but it something to consider and it is extremely logical. My baby was actually born face up (thats a lot different compared to a baby that was face up and then turns before birthed). Face up babies are hard to birth no matter what (typically), But if i was only able to be flat on my back i know i wouldn't have been able to do it because i pushed for several hours on hands/knees, squatting, kneeling, and pretty much every other position notable. There is no way i could have done those positions if i was immobile.
Either way though, having a face up isn't something you can know in advance, but it was just one of those in hindsite things for me.

No I was not saying the epi causes the baby to be face up. I said I was not aware it would have any effect. My son literally turned RIGHT as he was coming out the doctor was telling me this as I was pushing and I did have to work a fair bit harder but I still managed fine. As I said my epi only numbed one leg on one side.

right, so you would have been one of those ladies that it didn't negatively effect. (which i know you stated previously but not all are as lucky).

That sucks that it only numbed one leg. ouch!

 

[heyluu]

People are against it because there are risks and possible side effects involved, which obviously don't effect everyone. I've had 5 previous pregnancies and I've had children every way possible. One c section, four vbacs. One completely natural, one with something in the IV to relax me, one with an epi, and honestly the last one I don't know what they did, some sort of pain relief in the IV that didn't do shit. I would love to have all natural births every time as I believe in being as natural as you can....however, it's not always possible.

My last experience was the most painful thing I've ever gone through and I'm terrified to give birth this time. I cry every time I think about it. In this case, I don't know if my fear will allow me to relax enough for my body to do what it needs to do so an epi might be best for me. I've breast fed all of my children and the epi didn't change that at all for me. My son latched on immediately. I was also up and around quickly after and I did feel plenty of pressure to push. I realize not all experiences are like mine was. But people have diff reasons for going about labor in the way that works for them and shouldn't be judged for their choices.

I think the best think to do is be educated, and go in with an open mind because every labor has the potential to be diff than the one before and we don't completely know what to expect!

 

[Feronia]

I was in active labour for 56 hours and didn't wish once to have an epidural. (It was a homebirth so I didn't have a choice anyway!) Personally, I didn't find labour all that painful. It was exhausting and required a lot of concentration more than anything, but stubbing my toe is a lot more painful in my opinion. I do take pain medication if I have a bad headache, and I make sure to get numbed up when I go to the dentist, but labour is not the same thing. My point is that it's not necessarily good to go into labour thinking it will be the absolute worst pain of your life, because often times thinking that will make it happen. You just don't know!

So for me, it wasn't worth the risks that are associated with them. It's not worth the increased chance that you'll end up with a c-section due to a distressed baby caused by the epidural and other interventions. The level of control I had during labour and the very easy recovery was well worth the extra discomfort. My midwife told me at the time that "a hot shower is worth 2 epidurals" and I agree with that wholeheartedly. To each their own though. Everyone has different levels of pain tolerances and even if you have poor pain tolerance in other areas, you may be completely different with labour.

The reason you should want to feel the pain of childbirth, is because your body will tell you when something is not going right. You may not know this if you've never given birth both ways with a complication, but I have, and I can say hand on heart that my body was telling me to get up & get moving and "holy crap, this is going sideways" once I hit past transition. He was in an awful position, and I needed to get him right. You will not know this with an epidural and it's not always obvious to the doctor/nurses.

 

[Piper84]

I just think a lot of people want as little medical intervention as possible in their labour. An epidural is a massive medical intervention and not something I ever plan on planning on, if you know what I mean. If it has to happen then fine, but I'd rather it didn't

 

[Kota]

Why am I against them, because I'm a woman, and women are designed to give birth, their bodies will do it on their own, given the right support, the right advice, and not put on a time restriction. A women giving birth is flooded with her own natural pain relief endorphins, sadly, when faced with all the time constraints, and sub concious ideas of delivery we have, the majority of women go into labour expecting it to hurt, when you expect something to hurt, it does, the moment your brain starts thinking 'this hurts' your adreniline kicks in, when that kicks in, it fights your natural endorphines, and so the pain increases., Change the way your brain thinks, you can control and work with the pain. It's not an illness, or a headache, or a trip to the dentist, it's giving birth. If more women BELIEVED they could do it, then perhaps more women would, and would start telling those stories instead.

Labour and birth doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) 'managed' by a clock watching MW or OB.

 

[yin2173]

From every labour story I've heard, it hurts more than anything else in the world. Natural or not, in an ideal world if rather not have to go through that, and so I have said all along I will be asking for an epidural ASAP.

Like someone else said, there are no medals for feeling the pain. I'm not scared to admit that I'd rather it was as pain free an experience as possible!

 

[Kota]

But this is exactly my point, it hurts because we believe it will hurt, because everyone tells us it will hurt, because all the TV shows, show us it hurts, and then they tell us drugs are the answer....

No one (unless you go looking) will tell you that its actually one of the most amazing feelings on earth knowing you are feeling every bit of delivering your baby. No one tells you, that it will never be more then your body can handle, becaues its your body thats doing it, your body will NEVER put itself through more then it can handle. Yes, it hurts, but so does running a marathon, you're pushing your body to its limits, and I can't think of a better medal then a baby at the end of that thats not affected by the side effects of drugs in its system as it takes its first breath.

 

[d_b]

My labour wasnt really painful and definitely not the worst pain I've felt. I think I rated it a 4/10 when the nurse asked, and I was fully dilated by then. I'm not trying to sound like a hero it just honestly wasnt that bad. I studied the Mongan hypnobirthing method so I wasnt expecting pain. The book teaches you about a painfree birth - 'surges' and breathing the baby down and I REALLY bought into it.. and it worked! I used a TENS machine too which probably helped.

Now stitches afterwards - they really hurt and they numbed me for that!!

 

[yin2173]

But this is exactly my point, it hurts because we believe it will hurt, because everyone tells us it will hurt, because all the TV shows, show us it hurts, and then they tell us drugs are the answer....

No one (unless you go looking) will tell you that its actually one of the most amazing feelings on earth knowing you are feeling every bit of delivering your baby. No one tells you, that it will never be more then your body can handle, becaues its your body thats doing it, your body will NEVER put itself through more then it can handle. Yes, it hurts, but so does running a marathon, you're pushing your body to its limits, and I can't think of a better medal then a baby at the end of that thats not affected by the side effects of drugs in its system as it takes its first breath.

From all that I've read an epidural doesn't mean the baby will be born with drugs in it's system, infact, I plan to avoid any drugs and go straight to the epidural, as it will numb by pain but have no effect on baby? Am I wrong?

 

[Sarahrei]

But this is exactly my point, it hurts because we believe it will hurt, because everyone tells us it will hurt, because all the TV shows, show us it hurts, and then they tell us drugs are the answer....

No one (unless you go looking) will tell you that its actually one of the most amazing feelings on earth knowing you are feeling every bit of delivering your baby. No one tells you, that it will never be more then your body can handle, becaues its your body thats doing it, your body will NEVER put itself through more then it can handle. Yes, it hurts, but so does running a marathon, you're pushing your body to its limits, and I can't think of a better medal then a baby at the end of that thats not affected by the side effects of drugs in its system as it takes its first breath.

From all that I've read an epidural doesn't mean the baby will be born with drugs in it's system, infact, I plan to avoid any drugs and go straight to the epidural, as it will numb by pain but have no effect on baby? Am I wrong?

My doctor did say that an epidural tends to affect babies, and it makes them kind of slow and tired.

 

[Annie77]

For goodness sake everyone - just be grateful you are lucky enough to have a baby and also to be able to have a vaginal birth. I had dreams of hypnobirthing, birth pools and natural delivery of placenta but hey, I am heading for my third c-section so lets face it - not all births go according to plan.

We all have different pain thresholds - some take painkillers at the first twinge of a headache, some ladies are able to manage labour without any pain relief at all. There is NOTHING wrong with an epidural if the woman wants one or feels she needs one - no woman should be made to feel a failure for choosing one. All this 'research' that implies epidural are harmful to our babies should be taken with a pinch of salt. You can find research for every view point if you look long and hard enough. The fact is that BIRTH can be harmful to mum and baby & in other countries where mortality rates are higher, there are not epidurals to blame.

Sorry if this sounds abrupt, it may just be hormones, but I am really fed up with 'extremists' on these sites who seem to slate everyone who doesn't choose the 100% 'natural' ways of birth, feeding, child rearing etc.

We are all different and unique which is truly the most wonderful thing of being human. It's time all mums supported each other instead of turning motherhood into such a competitive issue.

 

[Feronia]

Kota is right, when you expect something to hurt, it does. These labour depictions on TV do women a real disservice. Our bodies are made to handle this!

After birth when my midwife pushed into my stomach to get the clots out was BY FAR the worst pain. Part of that was that I was mentally unprepared for it -- I gave birth, didn't tear, and thought to myself "that's it, it's all over!" So I had allowed myself to get out of the hypnobirthing mindset. When she gave me time to prepare before pushing into my stomach again and manually removing the clots, I was able to get back into that mindset and it was much better. The mind really is a powerful thing and pain is oftentimes what you make of it!

 

[nevernormal]

I don't think there is anything wrong with choosing an epidural. I've not given birth yet, but I really really hope to go without one. At my hospital the anesthesiologists make you take a class beforehand that explains all the risks and everything. I didn't want one before that, but after the class, I really don't want one! I don't want the baby to be affected by the meds.

As for the original post of this thread -- yes, when I get a headache, I do tend to take meds for that. But I know from experience that if I just leave a headache, it gets worse & worse no matter what I do, until I'm rendered pretty much immobile because if I even move it makes me throw up. Birth is completely different experience. The pain is for a purpose, and even if I don't know exactly when it will end, I know that there IS an end. When I go get dental work done, I always ask the dentist if I can go without anesthesia. I hate my mouth being numb afterwards and it's absolutely worth a few minutes of pain to not have to deal with being numb for a few hrs. I hope I can have the same mindset about labor. I know it won't be the most comfortable experience, but I do truly believe that skipping the epidural will be more than worth it in the end!

 

[Thurinius]

For goodness sake everyone - just be grateful you are lucky enough to have a baby and also to be able to have a vaginal birth. I had dreams of hypnobirthing, birth pools and natural delivery of placenta but hey, I am heading for my third c-section so lets face it - not all births go according to plan.

We all have different pain thresholds - some take painkillers at the first twinge of a headache, some ladies are able to manage labour without any pain relief at all. There is NOTHING wrong with an epidural if the woman wants one or feels she needs one - no woman should be made to feel a failure for choosing one. All this 'research' that implies epidural are harmful to our babies should be taken with a pinch of salt. You can find research for every view point if you look long and hard enough. The fact is that BIRTH can be harmful to mum and baby & in other countries where mortality rates are higher, there are not epidurals to blame.

Sorry if this sounds abrupt, it may just be hormones, but I am really fed up with 'extremists' on these sites who seem to slate everyone who doesn't choose the 100% 'natural' ways of birth, feeding, child rearing etc.

We are all different and unique which is truly the most wonderful thing of being human. It's time all mums supported each other instead of turning motherhood into such a competitive issue.

Totally and utterly agree. Everyone feels pain differently and you can't know how somebody else feels labour. Plus it's not just birth pain that is there for a purpose, all pain is - whether it's telling you that you have an injury or telling you a baby is on the way.
I had an epidural after 76 hours of contractions coming every 3 minutes. It was by far the best decision and one the midwives and dr's recommended to me as the best option. They were right. I hadn't slept in all those hours neither eaten. I needed the rest. Go on natural birthers tell me I should have soldiered through the next 13 hours that occurred without one.