Pain Relief?

[xJuliex]

Whats everybody thinking about doing for pain relief when they go into labour??
I was just going to see how i coped and have whatever butg now i'v told myself i'm NOT having an epidural unless i'm in a situation where i 'v been in labour add day and night and absoloutley need some sleep so i have enough energy to push baby out! I realised if i said oh i'll have an epidural if the pain gets really bad...i'd end up having one instead of trying to bear the pain so ii'm going to try my very hardest just to have gas & air!
famous last words

 

[Suzie and Faith]

Hehe!
Well as i'm HOPING for a homebirth my options are gas and air and my paddling pool! So hopefully just those!

I have said that if I end up in hospital for an induction then I would consider an epidural because of the fact I won't be able to use a pool and I doubt i'd have as much mobility if I was on a drip. My thinking is that if i can't have a natural birth like I want then i might as well go the whole hog and have an epi whilst I'm at it (if the pain is bad enough then why not!)

I am SO hoping it won't get to that stage though!

The only thing I have said is that under NO circumstances do I want pethidine.

I think your approach is good Julie, afterall yeh we'd prefer it natural BUT no one wins prizes for being martyr! Lol.

 

[BeckyJ]

im the same as suzi on this 1

hopefully im havin a home birth so just my tenns, then the pool and gas & air but if i hav to be induced i no it can b a long drawn out process with less mobility so i wouldnt rule out an epidural

i think im just goin to go with the flow and hope for the best

 

[mum2soon4]

Its good to keep options open, it depends on how much pain you are getting i suppose, all my births i have had different the first was awful gas and air,long labour and the baby was back to back but all they kept saying was will be here soon so no you cant have a epidural, the next morning she was born hours of pain later with venthouse that was england 10 years ago. I vowed no more My next was born in Germany and with the lovely army midwifes i stayed at home at just used a tens machine, when the pain got too much i went in and didnt have time for any relief and my son was born within the hour of being in with again a venthouse. My third son was born also in germany and i was so scared i went in early and had a epidural which i would say was the best thing ever and yet again was born with ventouse.And now the last baby i hope to stay at home with a tens machine as long as posssible and then go in and hope can do the last bit with a epidural. Thats my hopes anyhow who knows what will happen, i´m more scared mum wont be here to look after kids while i´m in and hubbie who is a lorry driver wont be home either, i spend nights worrying about this but i´m sure it will work out.

 

[Suzie and Faith]

im the same as suzi on this 1

hopefully im havin a home birth so just my tenns, then the pool and gas & air but if i hav to be induced i no it can b a long drawn out process with less mobility so i wouldnt rule out an epidural

i think im just goin to go with the flow and hope for the best

ooh yeh and the TENS machine.. i'll use one of those too!

 

[MissSara]

I'm going in there open minded, but i don't think i am wanting pethadine and trying to make do without the epidural.

Then again i don't think i have a choice on the matter, my mum came with me when i had harrison and any pain relief i asked for she was very very crafty and kept saying " just leave it half an hour and then i will ask for you" ended up having nothing........lol.

If i need it, i need it...........

 

[fuffins1981]

I had pethidine last time, as it was all they could offer on the ward and delivery was busy. It did not work at all!!

So, did a 21.5 hour back to back labour on gas and air. They finally gave it to me when I got on delivery.

So, am gonna try to just use gas and air again

 

[ASD123456]

My views are yery similar to yours Julie, I'd like to stick to just gas and air if at all possible but if I really need and epi I will have one although I'd like to avoid it as much as possible. I'm very unsure about the whole pethedine thing, I've heard a lot of bad things about it which have put me off a little and I also don't liekt fact it can make thye baby sleepy.

Alex xxx

 

[abcd1234]

My perfect labour would include a tens machine, gas and air and a birthing pool.

I dont really want to have anything that will affect Tally too, therefore i've said no to pethadine and that i really dont want an epi, but will take one if labour is drawn out and its recommended by the proffessionals.

I'm despearte to do it as naturally as possible, but we'll see i guess lol

Talking of birth my labour dreams have started up now, EEEK

 

[fuffins1981]

Pethidine was the same for me and my mom. Did absolutely nothing. Did not even make me sleepy. And bubs certainly was not sleepy. I think it is a hit and miss pain relief.

 

[sarah113]

i had gas and air with 2 of mine and nothing with the other 2

 

[Tillytots]

I planned gas and air and a water birth definately NO epidural...I got to hospital and they laughed and said We dont have a birthing pool anymore As it went on I couldnt have had one anyway as I had to be monitored.

I managed to do 10 hours of back to back labour and got to 6cm before I made the executive decision to have an epi and Im glad I did. I said at the time, in between writhing in pain on the bed "I wont get any medals for suffering this will I" I knew Id be far too tired to push baby out if I didnt get a break from the pain and I think I was sensible to make that choice even though Id been so set against the Epidural before. You cannot possibly say how you will cope until you get there. I did however refuse Pethidine and stood by my decision for that as I really didnt want to be out of it and not remember anything or be sick.

If the pain is the same next time I will have an epi sooner than 10hours LOL but maybe next time I will get my water birth and baby will be in a better position who knows?

See how you feel at the time hun

 

[Terrie]

with Rhys there was no time for an epidural and i had to do it on gas and air, but then Rhys was only 6lb 8oz so i guess there was no need for an epidural anyway!

this time i would like an epidural but we;ll have to see if theres time

 

[Jade&Evie]

my birth plan said I wanted an epi, as soon as possible so it was most effective...

I ended up having Evie with a couple of paracetemol and a warm bath

Keep an open mind x

 

[xJuliex]

i bet i'm going to give birth to a rite little porker!
ouch!!

 

[daftscotslass]

I planned gas and air and a water birth definately NO epidural...I got to hospital and they laughed and said We dont have a birthing pool anymore As it went on I couldnt have had one anyway as I had to be monitored.

I managed to do 10 hours of back to back labour and got to 6cm before I made the executive decision to have an epi and Im glad I did. I said at the time, in between writhing in pain on the bed "I wont get any medals for suffering this will I" I knew Id be far too tired to push baby out if I didnt get a break from the pain and I think I was sensible to make that choice even though Id been so set against the Epidural before. You cannot possibly say how you will cope until you get there. I did however refuse Pethidine and stood by my decision for that as I really didnt want to be out of it and not remember anything or be sick.

If the pain is the same next time I will have an epi sooner than 10hours LOL but maybe next time I will get my water birth and baby will be in a better position who knows?

See how you feel at the time hun

That's pretty much how mine went almost to the letter except the epidural didn't work (couldn't get the needle in after an hour) and I did it on gas and air in the end. Won't be asking for an epidural next time (did I actually just say "next time"? ) unless they want to give me a general anaesthetic to administer it!

How I loved gas and air. They should sell that stuff in place of alcohol.

 

[Bee]

I went in with an open mind but in the end did it without any pain relief.

Gas and air peed me off so I threw it away

 

[Sylvie]

At the start of my pregnancy I was almost sure I would ask for an epidural (all my friends in France had one, it's much more common than here). Then after antenatal classes and discussions with English mums I changed my vision of things and decided to keep all the possibilities open (just didn't want Pethidine). I ended up hiring a TENS machine and booking the birth centre to have access to the birth pool
When in labour everything was so quick that I didn't have time to use my TENS machine, I tried the gas and air but gave up because it didn't work, and had a go in the pool for 10 minutes before the midwife got me out of it as she couldn't monitor baby's heartbeat properly (he was becoming distressed at this stage). Of course no time for an epidural either as I got from 4 cms to 9 in less than an hour
In my records they have written "pain relief used: water", ha ha
I think it's better to stay open-minded because you can't plan what your labour is going to be like and each of us reacts differently to each form of pain relief

 

[Rachel]

Im hoping for a homebirth and will just be using gas & air but if for some reason I have to go to hospital and im not coping very well with the pain then I will have an epidural. I don't want pethidine though.

With Nathan I only had gas & air and I didn't have that until I got to 8cm dilated so im hoping it will be the same again this time

 

[Sherlock]

I had a homebirth and was really tired after 2 days of pre labour and about 8 hours of established labour. I lost my contractions from tiredness. Now while things like an epi were not available it never got to the point where I felt I needed or wanted one or any kind of heavy hitting pain relief.

Even though I was exhusted I summoned up the energy and got my contractions back for the final big push and it lasted 35 minutes. It was exhilarating not painful. Yes it hurt but not in the way the first stage contractions had hurt. It was a pain I could work with not just suffer through.

I found standing between the 2nd stage contractions good then with each one I took a breath of Entinox and then squatted down and pushed hard. Stayed there and breathed in again and pushed again till the contraction passed. Seriously, gravity worked wonders for baby to appear.

Mine was a straightforward labour and I realise not everyone has one of those. But if you do, and you have a decent pain tolerance and have built up to it during labour then you may well find you do just fine on Entinox and movement etc.