Didn't know where to put this topic - Pain relief choices...

Hi girls, can you tell me what pain relief you used in labour and how well it worked. What you would or wouldn't recommend too?
I had pethadine on Saturday and aside from talking like an idiot (kept thanking the student midwife for being such a great person and being there for me ), feeling sick and spinning like I was drunk, and now having one heck of a great big black bruise by my bum cheek - it did nothing good for me nor did it stop the pain.
They didn't offer me anything else.

My community MW said to me that at 5ft4 and still slim-ish, pethadine is a bit too strong for me anyway! They were going to give me 100ml of the stuff but the student MW said no and only gave me 50ml instead - still knocked my off my block and I felt bloody awful and couldn't control the pain through breathing as I felt sick and dizzy.

I've had it before (not for labour but just as pain relief) and it did the same thing then but I was in so much of a tizz when I got to hospital on Saturday after they rang neonatel and were fully prepared for baby to come very soon - I just agreed to have it.

Have made sure Mark knows not for it to be given to me next time if I'm not in the right frame of mind to make a decision.

Did anyone else have such a bad experience of pethadine??

Sorry kind of rambled and went off the initial question too - what did you use?!!

 

[Rosebay]

I had gas and air and TENS. The TENS machine was great for the first bit (which last about 8 hours for me). I started it off at the bottom and ended up with it at the top on constant pulse at the end of labour (but couldn't really feel it by then). It gave me something to focus on and something to do with the contractions and made me feel in control. I also didn't want to speak (or anyone else to speak actually!) during the early contractions so they knew when I pressed the pulse button to shut up! The pulse bit (that you use for the contraction) was like being massaged on your back- it was comforting right the way through except when I accidentally knocked it at one point and one came off- it kind of short circuits but the midwife just stuck it back on!

Gas & air was fabulous! You can still feel the pain but it's more distant somehow and when I first went on it it made me feel very happy! Because it wears off almost the instant that you stop breathing it in you don't feel too drunk unless you want too. I actually found that I stopped sucking on it when I'd had enough anyway. In the second stage I took a deep breath just before the contraction so that I was on top of the pain before I had to push and use the contraction but I had oxygen in between the contractions at this point too so that I stayed focussed. My mum says that towards the end of the first phase when I was on all fours with my head on the top of the back of the bed I was actually sleeping between contractions- I certainly felt like it was dreamlike but not in a horrible way. They had one tank in the loo as well so I could go to the loo and still have it which was good. I spent most of my labour standing up (at least until the last 2 hours when my legs got a bit wobbly) so it was cool as I could still function enough to sway my hips and move about. They had me attached to a machine that monitered his heart rate as it kept dipping and it also had the contraction rates on it so Mum was able to have the gas and air pipe in the right place at the right time. I was very reluctant to leave it behind actually- I'd love a cannister of that for period pains too! It does make your mouth dry but other than that it was great for me.

Hope that helps
+++

 

[stephlw25]

Rosebay explained it brilliantly!! I also used a TENS machine and like Rosebay found it very effective for the first stages of labour , so ideal if you want to stay at home as long as poss. TENS machine was totally crap nearer the end thou as the pain gets worse, i was pressing on the button like mad shouting "why isnt this bloody thing working!!" lol

I was offered Pethadine but after all the horror stories ive heard about it on here i refused to have it!

Gas and air was totally Brilliant!!! i couldnt get enough of the stuff! doesnt take the pain away as such but takes your mind off it coz you feel drunk as a skunk!!!! lol i loved it thou!!! i went to toilet and walked into the door and then burst out laughing!! And the midwife was talking to me about my contractions and i was giggling so much!!!

After 15 hours i coulnt take anymore and asked for an epidural and....WOW total pain relief!! i was about 5cm at this point so contractions were very painful and close together so keeping still while they put the needle in is quite hard!!

Cant wait to do it all again one day!! (just for the gas and air woohoo!!!! lol )

 

[Dee1985]

epidurel!!!!!!

the best thing ever!

 

[littlebump]

Hi Sami

Crikey - isn't time flying?

TENS machine - as the other ladies have said - is brilliant to begin with. Gas and air is an excellent remody if you you get to the stage where you don't think the TENS will do it for you. Beyond that is anyone's guess.

In my case after nearly 70 hours of labour and my waters breaking fairly early on, I was induced. After they started the drip, I found the contractions to be very intense and difficult to cope with. After around 8 hours of being on the drip and having consumed a whole tank of gas and air , I asked for an epidural, but unfortunately it didn't work - at all!!! I have since found out that it's not uncommon for an epidural not to work if it's administered too late during labour. As a result of the epi not working and me being frankly exhausted (my labour by then had spanned 4 evenings ) another midwife suggested pethidine.

Previously I had been dead set against it, as I knew it crossed the placenta and had heard it didn't help with pain relief. However when they told me I was still only 5cm dilated, I was terrified we'd be there another 76 hours and frankly was willing to try anything!

I have to say, that although it did nothing to relieve the pain, it made me totally relax between contractions. Furthermore, even though at most, there were only 60 seconds between the contractions, it felt like 10 minutes. I was able to drift off into a state of total relaxation between the contractions which helped me get some much needed rest. In fact, it relaxed me to the extent that it only took another 2 hours or so to dilate the remaining 5cm and I was ready to push.

I have a very close friend whose labour spanned 2 nights, and she managed the whole affair with no pain relief (not even TENS or gas and air), right until the end when she had to have vontouse delivery - she had a local injection to numb her as she had an episiotomy and of course stitches).

Everybody's experience of labour will be totally different, as is everyone's pain threshold - and I don't think you necessarily know what your threshold to labour will be until you have been through it to be honest. Therefore my best advice to you is to be totally flexible. Also if you have written a birth plan, then be prepared for it NOT to be followed, and tell the midwife that you are flexible and open to suggestions (I think that my midwife should have counselled me to have an epidural when they decided to induce me, but she probably didn't because I'd specified I didn't want an epidural).

Also, if you end up being induced (hopefully you won't) be open minded about pain relief and consider an epidural very early on. Again, everyone's experience is different, but in my case, if I could go back and do it differently, I would have had an epidural as soon as I agreed to be induced.

Re. the pethidine - as I said earlier, it relaxed me enough to allow me to dilate the final 5 cm in just a couple of hours and I firmly believed it saved me from having a C-Section, as that is definitely where I was headed. But on the downside, it definitely crossed the placenta as Maddie was pretty sleepy and not particularly hungry for the first 24-48 hours, however all in all I still think it was the best thing in my case to have done.

The main thing is to flexible and never be disappointed about how the birth itself pans out Through it all, the focus has to be on ensure your wee poppet is delivered to the world as safely as possible. And if this means your birth plan doesn't go according to plan, then who cares as long as you and baby are well.

Good luck - not long for you now!

LBxx

 

[AmberNicole]

First, I had Stadol and that made me feel REALLY loopy. It helped me sleep though. As I was drifting off to sleep I thought my husband was barking at me which made me feel really weird. Later on, I told my DH about that and it turns out he WAS barking at me. What a nut, there I was thinking it was the drugs. But yea, I still felt out of it and it didn't help with the pain.

EPIDURAL. Ahhhh, so awesome. I felt nothing but pressure with it. The day before I was discharged I developed a spinal headache though. That wasn't completely gone until like 3 weeks postpartum.