Catheter for epidural

[Ani]

As some of you may already know, I am giving birth in Spain, not UK, so things are a little different here. For one, we do not have the option of gas and air; the only pain relief is pethidine and epidural, and I am not keen on having either.

One thing that is really freaking me out is that if I have the epidural, I will have three things stuck in me:

1) the epidural
2) the drip
2) a catheter to empty my bladder for me

This is just scaring me, and putting me off even considering having the epidural. Anyone in UK or Ireland that I ask about this says they didnt have a catheter, and some didnt have a drip. This to me surely means I can demand that ONLY the epi is put in, and not the others.

Any advice welcome...

 

[claire2711]

I had an epi......but they gave me a drip & catheter as well.......Didnt mention the option of NOT having it

Sorry that doesnt help....hopefully someone else can!

 

[Ani]

I had an epi......but they gave me a drip & catheter as well.......Didnt mention the option of NOT having it

Sorry that doesnt help....hopefully someone else can!

Thanks, so maybe it is normal to have a catheter after all.

 

[Spritzer]

i had both the drip and catheter as i had a c section under spinal.

had an epidural during labour and didnt get either then.

what is it about them thats putting you off?

i relly didnt like the catheter idea but it really wasnt that bad

 

[Squiglet]

Hi Ani... I had a catheter inserted, that was before I demanded the epi I never got... didn't notice it at all... I was too busy giving birth... that pain was far more intense. I even had a drip to increase my contractions, one to stop me being sick and one to give me glucose (but you might forgo that as I had GD). The Spanish idea of labour is very medically managed

I was really scared about giving birth here but it wasn't as bad as it seemed in the end, the worst part was that the ward was roasting and they like you to be on the bed on your back so the can monitor you. As for demanding they don't do something... they don't listen to you so make sure your birth partner is well clued up. I tried to tell them not to give me sintocin drip until I had had the epi... the only thing that came out was "no no no no no no no no no no no no!" and DH didn't know what was happening...

I had an epi with Tia and I had a very calm labour and it was a much more memorable experience than lil miss which I think my body has tried to block out. I had Tia in the UK and I had a drip and a catheter so its not just a Spanish thing... tbh once I had the catheter in both cases, it was easier to give birth, so its not a bad thing.

 

[Tillytots]

I had an epi and a drip and a catheter, they were fine. Didnt even notice They only gave me the catheter as I hadnt had a wee for ages and I wasnt bothered in the slightest, all the poking down there - one more poke isnt going to worry you hun

 

[KERRYGOLD00]

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[Ani]

i had both the drip and catheter as i had a c section under spinal.

had an epidural during labour and didnt get either then.

what is it about them thats putting you off?

i relly didnt like the catheter idea but it really wasnt that bad

I guess I am just being a scaredy-cat , I have never even had so much as a stitch before. I never gave blood until my pregnancy, and I rarely go to the doctor's, let alone be in hospital.

 

[JoAnn&Aimee]

I had all 3 BUT the drip and catheter weren't due to the epidural. I had the drip to start my contractions. I was induced at3pm Sunday, at 8am Monday I was given an internal. I was 3 cm dilated, not having regular contractions, waters & plug still intact. I was given the drip to get my contractions regular. As for the catheter. I was given an epidural for pain relief half way through my labour, no catheter. After an hour and a half of pushing I was taken into theatre and prepped for a c-section as a last resort, they tried the forceps first which did the job. I was given a high dose of epidural for the c-section that never happened and I needed a catheter fitted but that was only because they'd prepped me for a c-section.

Please don't be put off the epi because you might get a catheter, that was a fear of mine was having one fitted. The thought of it made me feel disgusting having a bag of my wee on show but it is very discreet. I barely noticed that I had a tube there, it didn't hurt at all. It was fitted at 1am and removed by 6am as I had the feelings in my legs back.

Don't be scared. I know it is easier said than done. I was so scared the morning of my induction date that I was sick. I was the same, never had anything done before my pregnancy but honestly, at the end when you have your lil bubs you don't think about what you went through.

 

[lisa282]

Ive never had an epi so cant advise you on that, but I did have a catheter with my first baby. I hadnt weed for a while and had been pushing for a bit but his head just wasnt moving down so they catheterised me to empty my bladder and hey presto, he was born about 5 minutes later. Apparently because my bladder was full it was pressing against the birth canal and making it tighter so he couldnt work his way down. I would imagine this is why you might need one with an epi, because presumably you wont be able to tell when you need a wee so your bladder will just get fuller and fuller if they dont empty it for you? Its really not as bad as it sounds, the thought of it is worse than the reality tbh x

 

[Redshoes]

With Isaac I had the drip for induction after a long labour, that lead to me having an epidural for pain relief as I felt unable to cope with the force of the contractions after the drip kicked in as it were, some women are fine without an epidural and a drip is the final induction option that they will choose or you, before hand a sweep, or gel will probably be sufficient anyway. Because I could not move (due to epi) I had to have a cathetar fitted, otherwise how would I go to the toilet? hehe I didn't feel them putting it in and after the birth it was quite nice to not have to go to the toilet as I had it in, and saved me from the stinging pee toilet trips for an extra few hours too I found the administration of the epi quite traumatic, and I'm not dramatizing that.. because I was so dilated and the contractions were so close and intense, when being told to perch on the edge of a risen hospital bed and keep still, really is quite unbelievable, and I was also shocked by the bruising on my back after the epi, and also the numbness in my thigh, which lasted a few months after, and is a possible side effect of the epi. It must be quite frustrating having such limits on your labour options there in Spain, but I would just suggest trying to stay at home as long as possible in early labour, and read everything you can on the two pain relief options, personally I'd go epi over pethidine as the epi doesn't effect baby, but its a very personal choice, and you may not even ask for either, very best wishes

 

[hennaly]

I can honestly say i have had 5 epidurals and have no idea if i had a cathetar for any of them

 

[abcd1234]

I'm going to slightly buck the trend here... I had a catheter put in for about a ,minute so they could empty my bladder after having her as i hadnt pee'd through my entire labour and it was stopping her pushing the placenta out.

It's different cirucumstances and had i been in labout pain i doubt i'd have noticed but i told them i wanted to try and pee on my own but they wouldnt even let me try and the catheter was uncomfortable, it hurt to pee for weeks and gave me a UTI which with a 4 day old baby led me to tears, the UTI treatment then gave me thrush!!

So basically i will do anything to avoid it next time, but looking at the other repsonses most people dont seem to have any issues with it themselves.

 

[JoAnn&Aimee]

It's different cirucumstances and had i been in labout pain i doubt i'd have noticed but i told them i wanted to try and pee on my own but they wouldnt even let me try and the catheter was uncomfortable, it hurt to pee for weeks and gave me a UTI which with a 4 day old baby led me to tears, the UTI treatment then gave me thrush!!

Actually I forgot to say that I also had a UTI for 2 weeks after it. It was rather painful and had me in tears when I wee'd but I get a lot of UTI's so it is a 50/50 if it was the catheter that gave me it.

 

[purplebluered]

I had epidural...I had a drip for fluids and that was it. They had to keep emptying my bladder every so often as it was stopping baby from progressing the bladder was that big once it took them literally at least 2 minutes to empty it one time

I ended up having a catheter in 24 hours as I had a spinal block for c-section, it was inserted while being given the spinal I think. I was worried about it beforehand but actually I wasn't so bothered once I was there and had to have it, and didn't even feel it coming out the next day. It's all par for the course. It was actually quite nice drinking as much as I wanted and not thinking about the loo

 

[Ani]

Thank you for all the advice. That is really helpful.

 

[sarafet]

i had a catheter put in duing my pushing stage because my bladder was so full. being honest you don't feel it at all as the other girls have said, the other pains block it out

joann.. you can catch a uti easily with a catheter if it isn't emptied frequently, was yours emptied often?

and i think you would need a catheter unless you had a mobile epidural, as if you didn't you would woud probs wee yourself i imagine hehe

 

[handbagqueen]

I guess I am just being a scaredy-cat , I have never even had so much as a stitch before. I never gave blood until my pregnancy, and I rarely go to the doctor's, let alone be in hospital.

I was exactly the same- had only been in hospital for a blood test when i was 5! I was totally against having anything stuck in me but ended up with syntocin, fluids, epi and catheter! so much for my water birth but to be honest you really won't mind having it put in when you're there and in labour- i didn't want them to take it out as i was scared to go to the loo for the 1st time afterwards!

 

[dannii87]

I had epidural...I had a drip for fluids and that was it. They had to keep emptying my bladder every so often as it was stopping baby from progressing the bladder was that big

Same here!!

xx

 

[JoAnn&Aimee]

joann.. you can catch a uti easily with a catheter if it isn't emptied frequently, was yours emptied often?

I only had it for 7 hours. As far as I know it wasn't emptied while I was sleeping. I think I would know.