Epidurals

[Flossy82]

Hey all well one thing i want to ask can anyone recommend epidurals?Im in two minds as weither to have one or not as last time i only had very little gas and air which well was horrible as the pain was far more intense than i could have imagined and only just managed with that as me and pain dont really mix too well.Although i managed ok with just having that i dont want to repeat it again this time and am really stuck on whats best to go with?Any suggestions on what i should do here?I know you cant really say as each person is different but just looking for a little reassurance or however you would put it?

 

[kellie80]

i had one with my first and i loved it, the birth was so relaxed cos i was nice and calm. I had no complications at all apart from it slowed the labour down a bit but i wasn't in pain anyway so didn't really care. I have heard a lot from people saying they had al sorts of problems with them but my expeirence was a good one. I even asked for one with second baby but there wasn't time.

 

[Layla]

god send!!!!!

i had them on all 3 of my births, each birth got more painful but this one was so intense, i was induced this time and within 3 hours Coby was born.

i was in so much pain that i couldnt focas on anything so having the epidural really helped me, i dont think i could of focased to push him out if it wasnt for that coz gas and air just made me feel sick.

 

[melhoney]

I am completely against it...at least in this country! I have heard of soooooo many bad experiences with epidurals! It seems they always get the needle in the wrong place! And I have already a bad back and have been suffering from it for 5 years now, nearly non stop...don't want any more trouble!!! want to be able to enjoy being a mum!

Sorry I am not very positive or reassuring, but this is how I feel anyway!
I am so against it that I am afraid of C-section, since I have discovered that they do an epidural for it! And as I said, it's a "no-no" for me! I'd rather they used general aenesthetic (sp??) than epidural!

I am praying for a "normal birth"!!!!

By the way, it's not only "heard of" but seen it! quite a few people around me have had bad experience with it!

sorry I am probably not helping you! But you asked for honest answers!

Mel xx

 

[babsi]

I originally said no to an epidural but I was in so much pain at 3cm that I had to have it. I had it at 11.30 in the morning and it was wonderful, I had a sleep and was watching tv and was really relaxed.

But around 6 hours later they saw I was fully dilated and they were a little surprised so I was frozen for a while and couldn't push and I was probably fully dilated for around 5 hours until Kai was born which was painful and stressful.

I would recommend it, I was very anti epidural before and I had 6 hours of pain free labour.

 

[Kim]

see my thread on epidurals http://pregnancyforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5945

 

[Kim]

Just found this, thought it might be useful:

http://www.childbirth.org/articles/sideeppi.html

 

[beanie]

I really didn,t want to have one as I had read about all the side effects but I can say that i had no problems what so ever, and if it hadn't been for the epidural then I would have had to have a c section. However like you say everyone is different, and the best advice I can give you is just to be open minded about pain relief, and go withthe flow, if you feel like you need it have one but don't think you will definately need one or that you are completely against it.

 

[ree77]

I recommend it!!! I had one all 4 deliveries, I tried to go without anythind on my last one and I wasn't able to dialate after 15hrs my midwife begged me to have one because the pain was so intense my uterus was completely tensed so midwife told me that if I get an epidural then I will relax and if I relax then my uterus will relax and I will be able to dialate so finally I decided to get one and when I did my daughter was born 20 mins later!!! so yes I highly recommend it!!! Good Luck!

xoxo Ree

 

[Kim]

You should also bear in mind the side effects, I wasnt made aware of them and suffered most of them. if I had known i may not have had one. I'm not trying to put anyone off, just giving them the info I wish I'd had...