pain relief

[beckynbump25]

hiya girls,
im trying to find out what is the best form of pain relief as im writing my birth plan up can any one help?
thanks xx

 

[Carolyn]

hi, i was just going to have gas and air, when i wrote my plan. when i was admitted to hospital and was told i was 1cm dilated, and couldn't have any pain relief yet...i told them to get an epi ready for me!!!! (the pain was like nothing on this earth) i didn't end up getting my epi, i dilated very quickly...moral of the story? don't waste a lot of time on your birth plan and keep a VERY open mind on what you do and don't want.

 

[cupcake]

depends totally on you, some hospitals offer gas and air, most offer epidurals, and some offer other drugs. i didnt want the other drugs as they either seemed to make u totally out of it -which i didnt want to be, or could go to the baby. i had an inducation so i had an epidural at like 1.5 cms! i highly recommend the epidural if you have to be induced as it was very hard to work through contractions when you are not allowed to get up and are being given petocin. My back hurt a little after the epidural for the first 24 hours and i just asked for a regular pain killer to sort that out. other than that no side effects what so ever and baby was very alert when born. The epidural worked very well and i didnt feel the contractions but it did wear off in one leg during the pushing stage, which was painful, but im sure not half as painful as it would have been had it worn off totally.
best of luck!

 

[hellotasha]

im gonna put all down on mine i think, if u only put gas & air down does that mean u cant have anythin else or can u change ur mind on the day? x

 

[Vickie]

You should be able to change your mind (you can here at least). I ended up with an epidural which was great

 

[reallytinyamy]

I think I just replied to this in another section. Or I'm going mad!!

 

[Rayven]

I didn't have a birth plan & to be honest i think as someone else said, going into it with an open mind is the best thing to do. With my first (i was induced at 39 weeks) I was having really strong contractions but wasn't dilating, they tried me on gas and air but it made me throw up, the tried a pethadone (i think thats right) injection which had little to no effect and eventually gave me an epidural.
This time round i'm planning on going natural, so have soothing music, hot water bottles, cold face sprays at the ready, I'm already practicing my breathing and doing a bit of meditation - having said that depending on how much pain this little one wants to put me through, i may opt for something a bit stronger.

 

[beckynbump25]

I think I just replied to this in another section. Or I'm going mad!!

haha you did thanks chick x

 

[tatyleann]

To me it was gas and air and epidural. i don't think i could give birth without them... At first i didn't want anything but at the end ... thank god i had them.

 

[lynz]

A birth plan is a waste of time it all goes out the window once labour starts and your in pain. I would just go in with an open mind and see how it goes. I had my daughter with just gas and air and a shot of pethidine. I was adamant that i didn't want an epidural or a section but apparently i was begging for them midway through, luckily the midwife didn't take any notice

 

[reallytinyamy]

I will just add that I had a birth plan, spent ages doing it with OH, the midwife completely ignored all of it, some of it had to go out of the window cos of complications I had but some of it could have been followed and it wasnt, I was too out of it to mention it, but make sure they follow your wishes

 

[Rayven]

the midwife completely ignored all of it

to be honest this is one of the reasons that this time i'd like a home birth, because i'd have more control.

 

[AppleBlossom]

Every single thing on my birth plan went completely out of the window. I wanted an epidural as I'm crap with pain but ended up doing it all on gas and air as my labour progressed so quickly. I'm not discouraging you to write one, just don't expect everything to go according to plan!

 

[doumauk]

I had only wanted gas and air and managed ok on that. I was also in the birthing pool which is amazing with helping with contractions and relaxing you. If you get the chance to use a birthing pool I recommend it. I had to have a meptide injection as I needed to be transfered to the city hospital by ambulance and they thought that would make the journey easier, I didnt really feel any effect on that except maybe a little bit drowsy.