i had a vaginal delivery with a relatively new drug called reminfentanil.
xx
could you elaborate please? im interested!
Of course (very few hospitals offer it at the moment).
I knew I didn't want an epidural (I felt it would be too invasive for me), & when I was at my antenatal classes, the midwife mentioned the hospital offered remifentanil, which some people opt for. Though I'd wanted a water birth, after having contractions 3 minutes apart for 16 hours & only just getting to 4cm, I was finding g&a wasn't cutting it & begged for remifentanil instead.
It's a drip that goes into your hand & then you press a button whenever you contract (so you have control it). I had a wonderful, pain free established labour with it (it's taken away when you need to push in order for your body to break it down, & unlike pethidine it doesn't make your baby drowsy as it has a very short half life, so breaks down really quickly). I didn't need a catheter, I had skin to skin with bella as soon as she was born & once I was stitched up, I was able to get up, have a shower & freshen up myself & was comfortably walking around the ward later that day (I gave birth at 6.10am).
xx