Pain relief in labour, what does each of the types feel like?

[asacia]

Strange question perhaps. I'm interested in finding out what the different pain relief types feel like.

What pain relief have you had? Did you get a 'hit' off it? Did it make you feel drunk? Were you spaced out?

Thanks

 

[moomin_troll]

i was on gas and air and it didnt stop pain at all but i felt wasted lol and i used the mouth piece to bite down on while contractions got bad lol then i had peth injection did nothing but made me sleep lol which is what i needed

 

[Uvlollypop]

gas and air made me thirsty and diamophine (which was give way to late and didnt kick in till after id finished given birth) made me wonder around telling everyone how great labour was along with a loooooong sleep after

 

[Jkelmum]

Gas and air made me laugh
pethadine I felt I like floating
Morphine sick and sleepy
epidural great once working awful while havin it put in

 

[Cariad_bach]

Gass and air makes me feel a bit dream like for a second...but really like Uvlollypop i just used the mouth piece to bite on!

pethidine ive had once and it made me very very sick for hours afterwards.,

Tenn's machines work well for me early on, a nice warm buzzing on your back but THB its more of a distraction that a pain killer and as things progress it becomes irritating lol

 

[moomin_troll]

i really wanted a water birth but cuz i was induced i wasnt allowed one

 

[mummymadness]

I loved gas and air , I felt soo "Dreamy" that i forgot a little about the pain .

Epidural , was so surreal ... I just couldnt feel anything from my waist down at all very strange feeling .

tens machine , Worked really well for me once i got use to the little buzzy feeling lol .

 

[Sovereign]

I had a kidney infection a bit ago and was in hospital. The pain was so bad they gave me pethadine - never again!!!!!!!! It helped with the pain but I went so so dizzy I was nearly falling off the bed and I was projectile vomiting despite being given an anti-sickness drug. x

 

[Tegans Mama]

I had an epidural which was fantastic - I got it after 11 hours of labour and the relief was more or less immediate - I was very tired as it was 11am in the morning and I had been in labour since 10pm. I slept more or less the whole of my labour away, as did my partner (we had both been awake since 8am the day before, funnily enough I had been discharged from hospital due to a failed induction the same day lol)

 

[asacia]

There really doesn't seem to be any form of pain relief that is suitable for me. I don't want anything that gives a 'hit' so it seems opiates are out. I don't want to feel drunk, so seems gas and air is out. If my SPD stays as bad as it is, an epidural seems out. Perhaps I should just have a totally natural birth, eek.

 

[Shifter]

There really doesn't seem to be any form of pain relief that is suitable for me. I don't want anything that gives a 'hit' so it seems opiates are out. I don't want to feel drunk, so seems gas and air is out. If my SPD stays as bad as it is, an epidural seems out. Perhaps I should just have a totally natural birth, eek.

Same here hun. I don't want to get high in labour, plus I have emetephobia and I certainly don't want an epidural - the whole idea of a spinal tap makes me feel sick and I really hate the idea of being paralysed from the waist down, way too scary for me to consider.

Just remember the vast majority of women across the world and throughout history have given birth without any of the modern pain relief on offer to us here today. You can do it too

 

[marley2580]

I used TENS and breathing for most of my labour. It was really good as it allowed me to focus. I used gas and air towards the end and it made me feel drunk, throw up, thirsty. But it wears off in seconds. I don't think it helped in terms of taking away the pain, but I had to transfer and it gave me something to focus on rather than pushing (which I was trying not to do). I got a spinal before my CS and the relief was instant, but I really didn't like not being able to move or feel my lower body.

All in all, I think that the TENS and the breathing, combined with the natural endorphins, were the best, and I'll certainly be doing it that way again if I can.

 

[Nat]

Gas and air made me vomit and left me so spaced out I couldn't push properly. The birthing pool didn't take away the pain but did speed up my labour. In the end I went without pain relief, it was the best option for me.

 

[moomin_troll]

if u dont wana feel high n dont want a epi why not have a water birth?

 

[Shifter]

if u dont wana feel high n dont want a epi why not have a water birth?

Exactly. There are other options out there. Water birth, TENS, hypnotherapy and the most important and simplest of all: preparation! Fear is known to increase stress and anxiety during labour, which can't help relieve the pain.

I'm planning an active birth, combined with water. It's so obviously not natural to sit for the whole thing! From what I understand, the urge to get up, squat, walk around etc is incredibly strong. That says to me that our bodies know what they need.

 

[reallytinyamy]

i had just gas and air, hated it, just used it to grip on in the end, music was the best pain relief for me!!

 

[asacia]

I keep being told that its too early to be worrying about this. It is a serious issue, and a rather delicate one, and I don't know who to push for information.

 

[LittlePickle]

Asacia... try googling Hypnobirthing - might be just the ticket!

 

[moomin_troll]

if u dont wana feel high n dont want a epi why not have a water birth?

Exactly. There are other options out there. Water birth, TENS, hypnotherapy and the most important and simplest of all: preparation! Fear is known to increase stress and anxiety during labour, which can't help relieve the pain.

I'm planning an active birth, combined with water. It's so obviously not natural to sit for the whole thing! From what I understand, the urge to get up, squat, walk around etc is incredibly strong. That says to me that our bodies know what they need.

its so true ur body tells u what u need to do its crazy! i knew when i needed to start pushing and noone believed me until i started to scream at them lol

its never to early to think about the birth i was thinkin about it from 4 weeks and knew what birth i wanted unfortunaly i didnt get what i wanted as i was induced which they say hurts more but i didnt think it was that bad at all really! i did most of it without using anything

 

[Shifter]

I don't think it's too early to start thinking about the kind of birth you want. I was thinking about it when we were WTT!

If your MW won't discuss your options with you yet just do your own research and get some ideas together of what you would like. It's probably worth at least asking if the hospital you're booked into have water-birthing facilities if you're thinking about taking that route.

There is still plenty of time to make decisions though