epidural info

[laura favret]

Any thought about it is welcome!!!

Thanks

 

[Urchin]

Hiya
Hope you don't mind, I think more people will see this if it's in the "ask a mum" section, so I'll move it for you

 

[Princess_Puddles]

At my Antenatal class Tuesday night we recieved a leaflet on the advantages and disadvantages of the drugs & relief available to you whilst in labour and i have to say when reading through there were only two that had higher advantages than disadvantages. I cannot quote through personal experience as i haven't had an epidural but here is what it says on my leaflet:

Advantages
- It is a highly effective method of pain relief
- It can allow the mother to relax and the cervix dialate faster

Disadvantages
- The mother is usually restricted to bed, needs continuious monitoring and may need a catheter
- Epidurals relax the pelvic floor, which can prevent the babys head turning ready for birth, this means there is a greater chance of needing forceps, ventouse or c/section
- If the Epidural doesnt wear off before second stage, the mother will not feel the urge to push which can also lead to assisted delivery

Sorry for rambling, Hope this helps a tad

Mica
xXx

 

[hels]

OOOpppps its in the wrong section Urchin!!!

 

[Minxy]

I had one of these as to allow my swollen cervix to go down before second stage (I was convulsing and pushing way too early).

For pain relief it was excellent, second to none, felt like I was lay on the softest feather bed in the world, and the catheter and stuff never bothered me.

I DID however end up with an assisted delivery. I had a self-administering pump to top it up and no-one told me to lay off it or slow down as I headed towards full dilation, so I had real trouble pushing.

I could have down without the episiotomy, and the ventouse gave my baby a headache so I may think twice about having it again.

Which is a shame, cause it felt BRILLIANT!!

 

[Urchin]

OOOpppps its in the wrong section Urchin!!!

No it's not!

I left a "shadow" of it in the products section, so she could find her thread again, when you answer, you'll see it's in "Ask A Mum"

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

hi, i had an epideral when i had my little girl 8 days ago, i didn't really want one but after going 15hours with just gas and air i needed it lol, mine worked straight away but there is a chance that it won't work!

the feeling's funny that you get and i didn't get the feeling back in my legs til about 8pm that night after having it at 6.30am

 

[Xena]

Another disadvantage is that if they don't get it in the right spot, they can accidently stick it in the bit where your spinal fluid is and cause a spinal tap (lumbar puncture).
This gives you a ridiculously bad headache which can last up to 7 days,

Luckily it's incredibly rare that this happens.

I had an epidural - it was fantastic. I would have one again.

 

[Miracle babe]

I was advised in parentcraft classes NOT to have an epidural. To this day I regret not having one until I'd been in labour for 22 hours My daughter went into a deep transverese arrest and my cervix swelled up, I was dilated at 9cm for 4 hours before I finally caved and believe me I dont have a medal for my efforts. Having the epidural was the best thing I did, changed the goal posts totally, finally gave my cervix time to go down and yes I did have a forceps delivery but once you have a baby in a DTR you have no options anyway. It totally took the pain awayand I had no problems afterwards

 

[Miracle babe]

Another thing, I had no problem pushing with an epidural. MW sat next to me with hand on bump telling me when to push but I just KNEW anyway and was telling her when I needed too.......bit weird but true!