opinions on pethidine wanted

[muppetmummy]

i had it with james and it made me pass out between contractions, i didnt like the fact a large chunk of my labour I have no recollection of what went on, i felt sick and out of control.
the worse part was james was sleepy for days afterwards and not very interested in feeding.

i had no drugs this time with logan and was amazed how much more alert he was. i also found the labour a better experience, it was longer and more painful but i felt in control and at no point felt scared

i wonder if pethidine is more for the benefit of the midwives to shut women up and make their job easier

 

[lisa282]

I had it with my first but made me really sick within a few minutes of having it. Managed on just gas and air for the remainder of the labour and coped just fine so certainly wont be having it again this time. Didnt like it at all

 

[lea m]

I had pethidine with my first and I was soooo sick! They have to put me on a drip as I couldnt keep even water down! It was horrid! I never had pethidine again but I had diamorphine which is the same kinda thing and I cant hardly remember my childrens births etc! I dont remember it doing anything for the pain! I think they gas and air was better lol!

 

[daftscotslass]

We didn't get offered pethidine at our hospital, only diamorphine (which is fairly similar). It was the only thing I outright refused the whole way through. I really felt like they were trying to push it on me when I was in a lot of pain and I'm glad I had written it in my birth plan I didn't want it and had told OH. In hindsight I'm glad because it meant Becky was alert from moment 1.

The woman in the bed opposite me had it fairly late on in her labour but early enough that it crossed the placenta and she struggled to get her little boy to wake long enough for a feed. He also had to be cared for the first night because she couldn't stay awake or focused enough to look after him.

 

[jills10uk]

Thanks so much for all your replies - definately seems like majority wouldn't recommend it. I think i will be giving it a miss and sticking to gas and air.

 

[purple13]

i wouldn't recommend it either. i vomited copiously and it made me feel the most screwballed i've ever felt (and i had a mis-spent youth ) but it didn't do a thing for the pain - just made me incapable of handling it

however OH says that it did make me moan like a porn star which he found horny in a really weird way

 

[poppy160]

It was the first kind of pain relief I had when I first got to the hospital at 1-2cms. It only made me drift off to sleep in between contractions then was woken up again by pain

 

[Miss.Monroe]

its amazing how many people said they didnt like it or wouldnt have it again. i think i will leave this as a last option in my labour.

 

[Happybunny]

I wasn't that impressed with it. It didn't relieve the pain as much as I was led to believe and it's limited effects didn't seem to last long. It made me vomit too.
I wouldn't bother with it next time round, gas and air was as effective and didn't make me vomit.

 

[trixipaws]

i didnt have any drugs but my mum said she had pethidine and it made her sick.

 

[Sage]

I had pethadine about 36hours into my labour. Obviously it didnt make the pain go away but i was totally off my rocker inbetween contractions which helped me not to worry about the next contraction coming. I just sucked like hell on the gas and air during the contraction then went back to la-la land in between!

I think it helped me because i had such a long labour. If i hadnt of felt as tired and stressed i dont think i would of liked it. I had another shot towards the end and it wasnt as good, made me a bit panicy.

My cousin had a short labour and had pethidine and she said it didnt help at all but she was totally off it after having the baby which she hated!

I was quiet happy to be on cloud 9 8)