epidurals

[tina426]

Hi ladies,

I'm looking for thoughtful, non judgemental opinions your planned choices on medicated versus unmedicated labor.

I hadn't put much thought to it yet, but i hadn't been opposed to medication if I felt the need. My general thought has been well I'll plan to see how it goes and if it gets bad I'll do the medication.

However, options and detail of each were presented to us in our childbirth class this evening, and the were some aspects to medicated labor i hadn't fully realized and found concerning - just fyi mainly that if i had an epidural i was generally going to be immobile thru the process (or at least restricted to bed, i dont know why that hadn't dawned on me before). Anyway, it was all part of an American pregnancy association video we watched and discussed. Afterwards, our lecturer was literally like I dont know why they make such a deal of this, at least 90 percent of women get an epidural. I was really disheartened by her really aggressive opinion. Again, if had no real prejudice either way but was disappointed to be given a lot of legitimate information and then end on such a sour note.

Anyway, thoughts? Plans?

 

[2have4kids]

I don't really understand why her opinion was aggressive, it sounds to me like she was trying to lessen the harsh outcome of not being able to be mobile from an epidural? Maybe make you ladies feel less judged and more confident? I may not be interpreting your context correctly sorry it felt like you ended up on a sour note, we need to build confidence with these classes, not come out feeling more shaky about things.

Either way, I'm very much in line with what you feel - flexible with how things go but just last week fully understanding the implications of epi's. I don't like that we have to be on our back not working with gravity which may slow things right down and as well I do NOT want a urethral catheter! Some ppl get them because you can't feel yourself peeing. No thanks! I don't know why I'm such a chicken but they prefer to induce me using the baloon catheter to dialate over the pitocin shoe lace. No thanks to the baloon too! It takes longer to work but my OB says women tolerate them well. One last time, no thank you! Oh dear, I have a feeling things are going to be a little rough if I have to be induced. I like your attitude of just going with whatever feels necessary at the time and not making any set decisions or being influenced by others opinions.

 

[aley28]

I've had 2 labors, both were induced.

First time around I let them break my waters and I ended up with an epidural shortly after. You're definitely confined to bed during labor, and until it wears off after delivery as well.

Second time around I refused to let them break my waters and I refused the epidural as well. I was able to walk the halls, bounce on a ball, and birth in a better position (versus flat on my back with the epi). It was a MUCH better labor, though I do not regret anything about my first labor at all!

Epidurals increase your chances of needing further interventions - from an assisted delivery to emergency c-section. You lose all control during the pushing phase, because you feel literally nothing - you can't feel the contractions so a nurse has to tell you when to push. You can't relax between contractions because the baby sorta "sucks" back up into the birth canal. Its harder to know where to push from because you are numb from ribcage down.

On the positive side of it - sometimes women are so tense from their unmedicated contractions that they quit dilating. An epidural takes the pain away so that they can relax, and I've known many women who then go on to have a vaginal delivery, where they looked like they might need an EMCS before the epidural. Also, contractions keep you awake and can be very exhausting - an epidural can let you rest so that you have more energy for pushing. I slept for the last 6 hours of my first labor, thanks to the epidural. It was the last stretch of sleep I got like that for many weeks

Going medication free, on the other hand... you're more mobile, which I found to be a great plus. Its less boring to sit around in a hospital and dilate if you're able to get up and move around. Sitting there, stuck in bed, with an epidural was super boring after a couple hours. I felt like I had more control during pushing - I was the one who decided which contractions I was going to push with and which ones I was going to rest during. I didn't have to awkwardly try to hold onto my thighs in order to find something to push against, because I could feel the pressure of the baby in the birth canal. Pushing went faster, and easier. After delivering the baby and the afterbirth and having a quick feed/cuddle with the baby, I was able to pop up out of bed and go pee... I didn't have to wait a couple hours for the epidural to wear off. There was no backache from the injection site, etc. It was just ... better.

But, I remember BEGGING for the epidural while I was pushing, because natural childbirth can be very uncomfy. I didn't really have any negatives to not having an epi with the second baby, and being able to feel everything was truly incredible.

I think its best to know your options and to research them. The doctors and nurses in my hospital are VERY pushy for epidurals, artificially rupturing membranes, etc.

That said - I'm planning to roll with what is necessary this time. My only real plan is to be induced at 39 weeks if I haven't gone naturally before then, and to refuse to let them break my waters. I'd rather not need an epidural, but I'm not going to try to soldier on through hours and hours of horrible contractions either - so if it gets to that point, I'll get what pain medication I need.

 

[Misscalais]

Ive not had an epi, but im in Au, so its not really used as much as it is in America.
In saying that i am not opposed to having one. I hate the thought of being confined to a bed. The only time i get onto the bed when in labour is to get cervical check and to give birth lol
With my last labour i actually told the mw i couldn't do it at 6cm and wanted an epidural. Turns out baby had other ideas and he arrived very quickly after so no time for an epi. Which im glad about.
Just go in with an open mind, if you feel you need an epidural, go for it. At the end of the day its your body.

 

[MyFavSurprise]

Last pregnancy I planned on a completely unmedicated birth... I took classes and educated myself and was so ready...until my contractions started coming back to back leaving me no time to breathe, I was literally blinded by the pain..they gave me an IV medication and I remember feeling great from that alone, but they prepared the epidural and I didn't think to ask to wait and just do the IV meds so I got it and I easily slept, even between pushing, it was so nice..

I was still able to feel the birth and the pushing but they had to tell me when to push. I think I had a walking epidural, so I wasn't as numb as the usual one makes you, I was able to get up and pee soon after even though one thigh was still pretty numb.

This time I'm going to try to get by with just the IV meds, but if I can't I will be happy to get the epidural

 

[mrs_sasquatch]

I am planning to gonunmedicated, but that isn't due to choice, really. I cannot have an epidural due to tattoos that may interfere. My sister had the epidural with her first and said she hated the numb feeling and it seemed to take forever to recover.

 

[tina426]

I don't really understand why her opinion was aggressive, it sounds to me like she was trying to lessen the harsh outcome of not being able to be mobile from an epidural? Maybe make you ladies feel less judged and more confident? I may not be interpreting your context correctly sorry it felt like you ended up on a sour note, we need to build confidence with these classes, not come out feeling more shaky about things.

Either way, I'm very much in line with what you feel - flexible with how things go but just last week fully understanding the implications of epi's. I don't like that we have to be on our back not working with gravity which may slow things right down and as well I do NOT want a urethral catheter! Some ppl get them because you can't feel yourself peeing. No thanks! I don't know why I'm such a chicken but they prefer to induce me using the baloon catheter to dialate over the pitocin shoe lace. No thanks to the baloon too! It takes longer to work but my OB says women tolerate them well. One last time, no thank you! Oh dear, I have a feeling things are going to be a little rough if I have to be induced. I like your attitude of just going with whatever feels necessary at the time and not making any set decisions or being influenced by others opinions.

I suppose aggressive is the wrong word, more dismissive :/

 

[crazycatlady5]

I think the people who do those classes have very strong opinions one way or another on pain medication. Mine was very opiniated the other way, so at my last apt I asked the nurse about it. She said epidural is very safe, I think that it does reduce your movement as you're confined to bed but you don't need a catheter like our prenatal class person said and a number of her other concerns the nurse also said weren't true (at my hospital anyway). Also, you may end up confined to bed anyway depending on how your birth goes, my friend was and she didn't have an epidural.

I think your initial see how it goes attitude was the right one. Ask your nurses/Dr about it so you have the info you need and do what's right for you and your birth.

So many people have such strong opinions on pain management.

 

[icegurl470]

That was my main reason for not wanting one, being limited to the bed, because I really wanted to use the tub and the bathroom and stuff while I was in labor and they don't let you do that once you've had the epi. It depends what kind of labor you have too though, I moved around a lot, but my friend said she didn't move from the bed the whole time she was in labor and had no interest in the tub, so that aspect probably wouldn't have bothered her.

When I went for my child birth classes they offered something called an intrathecal which is what I've heard refereed to as the "walking epidural", although I've heard the "walking" part isn't always guaranteed. It's supposed to be like an epidural but it doesn't completely numb you and it's not a catheter that they can continuously turn up or down it's just a temporary thing, but your supposed to be able to get up for the bathroom and stuff.

Another thing to think about is that they can slow things down. I went from 5cm to fully dilated in an hr in a half after taking 9hrs to get to 5cm. That was when it was the most painful, and I didn't realize I was so close to the end. I'm glad I didnt go for the epi though because it probably wouldn't have done much good and may have slowed things down.

 

[PurpleIvy44]

I took a birthing class and have to say that what they described was nothing like it happened. They really don't fill you in on what really goes down, at least mine didn't. We practiced the different positions and breathing through contractions but for me, I never had contractions on my own and I never got to labor in my own home until the time came. I planned on not having one b/c it can slow labor, effect breastfeeding after birth etc but I'll tell you once I was induced and the contractions were coming every 2 mins I couldn't wait for him to come give me one. But that was my situation.

It's so hard to say b/c every labor is different and depending on how much you can stand pain and where you are in labor depends on if you should have one. Totally your choice as long as your comfortable and happy!!

 

[prettybirdy27]

My attitude is very much the same as yours - I want to try and see if I can do it naturally, but I want to have epi and other methods available if I get into it and decide I just can't handle it. I think there's nothing wrong with that.

We took a general preparing for childbirth class through my hospital, and they covered each method of pain medication pretty thoroughly, as well as natural. The more we got to learn about the different methods of medication, the more we didn't really want to do any of them, except gas and air, which is slowly becoming available in my area. That might be a viable option for you if your hospital/birthing center has it. There seemed to really only be pros to gas and air, such as the effects go away as soon as you remove the mask, it doesn't affect the baby at all, and if you want to get up and be mobile, you can just take off the mask and do it.

At any rate, this is my first so I really have no idea what childbirth is going to be like or if I'll be able to handle it. I think the important thing is to go into it with a plan of what you want to do, but also with the openness to accept that anything can happen and you may need to medicate.

 

[Indi84]

I think epi's freak me out because of the higher risk of medical intervention.
I haven't decided this time, last time I had a back to back labor, blinding contractions back to back too, for 15 hours and did it meds free because I'm more scared of being immobile! However, some of my friends were like 'why did you go through that, I had an epi and slept till I pushed' which makes me wonder if I went through that for no reason other then stubbornness?

 

[mommyB]

I've had two enjoyable births that have included an epidural. No complications or side effects from the epidural. So it's definitely in my birth plan one last time. I admit it, I could not go through with a "natural" birth. Too scared! I laboured until 5cm last labour and those contractions were intense! Plus I gave birth to a 10lb4ozs baby with a small episiotomy. So glad I had the epidural. I definitely applaud those who can do it without by it's not for me

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I had an epidural with DD, and it was the best decision I made! It gave almost immediate pain relief, I could still move my lower body around, and I was able to sleep through the night so I had plenty of energy for the pushing stage. Not once did they mention I was at risk for an intervention. From the time they put the Cervidil in to do it's magic on my cervix until I pushed her out was less than 24 hours. I slept a good bit of that, so I was okay with the length.

I loved my epidural birth and it gave me the relaxed experience that I wanted, and I'm going into the hospital with this one backwards so they can just go ahead and hook me up right away.

To me there are no medals for how you give birth, just hopefully a healthy mother and bab(ies) in the end, so being flexible with how it progresses is important. To the ladies that choose the natural birth (or have a very specific birth plan), more power to you, but I think epidurals are one of the most amazing things ever invented!

 

[hanni]

Maybe she just didn't want anyone who's had one/ends up with one to feel bad about it? Since everyone always paints it in such a negative light.
My best friend called me a fanny for getting an epidural. I don't ever remember her going through 42 hours of twisted 9lb baby labour after days of no sleep so I don't really see how she can have an opinion about it. Just an example of someone making someone else feel bad for having an epidural. Maybe they just wanted to show how common it is so no one would feel like that?

Safe to say I hope my friends next baby is back to back, 14lb, upside down and she's in labour forever 😝

 

[2have4kids]

My best friend called me a fanny for getting an epidural.

Whaooo shaming is not cool, I hope you gave her a rebuttal earful!

 

[hanni]

My best friend called me a fanny for getting an epidural.

Whaooo shaming is not cool, I hope you gave her a rebuttal earful!

I told her that from the time labour started to me getting my epidural she'd already popped a baby out, had a shower, a good sleep and been discharged so she really had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and no right to say anything about anyone else's labour. She shut up 😜

 

[jessmke]

I am not planning on having an epidural because statistically your chances of requiring medical interventions increases drastically after having one (although obviously this doesn't happen in every case). I'm not against pain management in general, I will take a tylenol if I have bad menstrual cramps or a headache, so it's not the taking away of the pain that I have a problem with, it's the cascade of events that are more likely to occur after being given the epidural that I would like to avoid (pitocin drip, vacuum/forceps delivery, EMCS, back pain at the injection site, etc). I also want to be mobile during labour, and even with a "walking epidural" you're not exactly mobile, you just have a bit more feeling down below than with a regular epidural.

 

[icegurl470]

My best friend called me a fanny for getting an epidural.

Whaooo shaming is not cool, I hope you gave her a rebuttal earful!

Yea not going for the epidural just for the sake of proving you could is like getting a root canal without novicane, it's just stupid. No matter how it all goes down, pregnancy, labor and parenthood is hard, your "toughness" shouldn't be measured by "how" you had your baby.

 

[2have4kids]

I like the etiquette training our baby & birth class instructor did for us, she said that we should encourage a variety of ways to parent, deliver, and that because each birth and person is different, no one way is best for all. Therefore when we explain to people how we did it we should pre-empt with `what worked for us`, as it clues in that what worked for us may NOT work for you. And allows the person you`re speaking to to have their own opinions without feeling judged. Anytime we feel judged we wind up losing respect for the catty person who`s lecturing. I don`t want to come off like that to others either. Was great advice that I wish more people would get!