Do you feel like a 'cheat' if you have pain relief?

[bwakeling]

Hi mums!

My beautiful daughter Jemima was born on Wednesday and both mum and baby are doing well.

Just wanted to get your opinion on something. Yesterday my wife said that she felt like she was cheating by having an epidural, especially as she was so proud that she'd had our other two without any pain relief. I told her she was daft, of course, but it got me thinking: is there a big stigma surrounding pain relief? Did you feel like cheating if you had any drugs? And do you feel proud if you had no pain relief? If so, why? Do you look down on or judge mums who had a lot of pain relief? Were you under any pressure to go through childbirth without any pain relief?

Really interested to hear your thoughts on this! Now, back to the dirty nappies... x

 

[pinkyprincess]

In a nutshell, no, it bloody hurts!

 

[Princess81]

Congrats on your new little one Do we get any pics to coo over?

In answer to your question..... Dunno

Seriously, I had a 22hr labour with just a few mins of gas n air through transition. I was proud that I was able to do it this way but was in no way opposed to pain relief for a "macho" reason. If I'd needed an epidural then so be it. I certainly don't look down on people for choosing to have one. X

 

[cosmicgirl]

Do you feel like a cheat if you have a local to get a tooth removed?
No.
Why not use medical advances to our advantage in childbirth?
Why have pain when you don't need to?
No one gets a medal x

 

[charliebear]

Do I feel like a cheat for having pain relief?
No. I had everything going and needed it with my son! There is no way I'd want to go through labour and birth without it.

 

[Belle23]

I was lucky I had epidural as I had to have forceps so no I'm pleased I had pain relief x

 

[bwakeling]

Great responses so far, thank you! I can't give you any pics yet as I'm on my phone but you can see a photo (and read the birth story!) here: http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/08/10/figuring-out-fatherhood-the-obligatory-birth-story/

 

[KarenC]

What a curious question to ask! I don't think anybody should feel like a cheat if they have had every type of pain relief going - it really f***ing hurts and there is no shame in taking advantage of medicine to make the experience easier. Like Cosmic says, nobody gets a medal!

That said, I had no pain relief at all during labour - I took two paracetamol before established labour and then promptly forgot that I could ask for pain relief if I wanted it. There was only gas and air and meptid available to me because I had a home birth, but I didn't even think to ask for either of them. I felt justifiably proud of myself afterwards that I did the whole thing with no pain relief, like some kind of masochistic amazonian wonderwoman, but I might try and remember to ask the next time I have a baby! It was painful!

Had a quick glance at your article. Loved this line 'A baby's cry is the only sound which makes you jump for joy when you first hear it, and then makes your heart sink on every subsequent occasion' - SO true.

Congratulations! x

 

[katie_lou]

I didn't have an epidural as I wanted to try other pain relief options first I had diamorphine an it was bloody amazing so glad I had that rather than an epidural . By having pain relief is not cheating
Labour bloody hurts and some people handle pain in different ways xxx

 

[Loula]

I wouldnt judge anyone who has pain relief.
I would have judged myself as i only wanted gas and air, i did it on just gas and air in the end.
Personally i dont like epidurals but if i had to have it i would. x

 

[Jayjay027]

I had 1 shot of diamorphine after 17hrs of being in pain and used gas and air for a few hours too. I absolutely don't feel like a cheat - I brought my baby into the world, how I did it or what I used to make that happen makes no difference - I did it!
If I felt I couldn't cope, I'd have asked for an epidural and wouldn't have felt 1 bit bad about it.
As some of the others have said, its incredibly painful, why should any1 feel like a cheat for wanting to ease pain?! x

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

 

[cosmicgirl]

I had 1 shot of diamorphine after 17hrs of being in pain and used gas and air for a few hours too. I absolutely don't feel like a cheat - I brought my baby into the world, how I did it or what I used to make that happen makes no difference - I did it!
If I felt I couldn't cope, I'd have asked for an epidural and wouldn't have felt 1 bit bad about it.
As some of the others have said, its incredibly painful, why should any1 feel like a cheat for wanting to ease pain?! x

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

What was diamorphine like? Im thinking of giving that a go this time x

 

[NatEvz]

I had paracetamol and gas and air for the first 24 hours and was offered diamorphine when i was put on the drip ,of course as it was offered i took it. It doesnt make me feel like a cheat, i loved it. Cos the diamorphine is good, doesnt do a lot pain wise but made me really tired so at least i slept between contractions xxx

My piece of shit galaxy ace

 

[cosmicgirl]

Oooh great.
I've always declined it because I worried it would make me feel disorientated or a bit trippy x

 

[tiaflame]

I don't want pain relief coz I will feel I've been a wimp if I do, I hope just for a water birth or tens machine with gas and air if I can, but I'd I absolutely can't stand it I will ask for something but u just don't want to feel off my face or too tired to do it xx

 

[Kayelle]

I had gas and air and the injection, I don't feel like a cheat but wouldn't have injection again as it made me dizzy and sick. I would never look down on anyone for the level of relief they had, everyone is different.

 

[Mrsstuart01]

Tapatalking from my blackberry![/QUOTE]

What was diamorphine like? Im thinking of giving that a go this time x[/QUOTE]

It is amazing as it makes you sleep but it also made me itch like a crazy person for 2 days after!! Xx

 

[Samsgirl]

i was in established labour (3cm plus) for 36 hours with contractions every 2 mins right from the start of my labour...total labour from start to finish was 48 hours ish....

baby was back to back, i needed a forceps delivery, they turned baby by sticking their hand up me and turning her when she was coming down the birth canal and in the end my contractions stopped so they literally had to pull her out.......so...

I do not feel like a cheat one bit that i had pain relief....it was so painful, if someone had passed me a gun i would have happily shot myself!! lol...i can laugh about it now, but i have never felt pain like it.......it felt like someone was turning me inside out...next time i would ask for it again too because i honestly dont think they woud have got her out as quickly and safely in the end had i not had pain relief...

 

[Roo3]

I had a failed epidural. I don't feel like a cheat for having pain relief. As my epidural didn't work I used gas and air which didn't take the pain away, just made me feel as though I didn't care about the pain!
I would definitely have pain relief if I ever have another baby, it friggin hurts and anything to help take that pain away is welcomed by me!

 

[Jayjay027]

Cos, as some of the others have said, diamorphine helped me sleep, which was great. I think I slept for about 2hrs (waking for contractions) but it was a godsend as it gave me energy to push.
As far as pain relief goes - I honestly don't remember if it helped with the pain or not, which I'm assuming can only be a good thing lol x

Tapatalking from my blackberry!