Epidural

I was 7cm when i had mine put in but i don't know the cut off point

I was 6cm I think, but have also heard of others fully dilated almost delivering before they have needed one for emergency so I guess it depends on the circumstances and perhaps also the protocol at that hospital

Mealz79 wrote: I don't think there is a specific cut off point, it's just that it takes about 20-30mins to sort out, so if you are already fully dilated it's possible that the baby might come before the epidural is administered...

Yup that's pretty much correct! I asked my mw when in labour as I was considering it, she said you can have it whenever just to let her know about an hour before I thought I might like it so it could be sorted out. I asked for one about 4pm, at 4.30 someone came and saw me and asked a few q's etc then about 20mins later they did the epi. But it wore off by the time it came to start pushing and I didn't bother topping it up!

I was 6cm when I got mine which was at 9.30pm. That was about 3hrs after I'd asked for it (hospital was busy that day and only one anaesthatist on) It was more so because I'd been in labour for about 19hrs and was absolutely knackered and just wanted to rest but didn't want pethadine. Took a while for mine to work. It numbed my legs pretty much straight away but after about 40mins it started numbing my belly. Was great while it worked and I managed to get a few minutes sleep. It wore off by 4am and the anaesthatist was busy all morning with emergencies etc so had no one to come and top it up. In the end I needed a C-Sec anyway so they did a spinal block.

I was 9cm when the midwife suggested i get one, which by that time i was all for it. I was 10cm by the time it was administrated.

Mine was done as soon as my waters were broken, and topped up again about an hour later just as I started pushing, absolute BLISS.

hehe Kelly, your post made me laugh! It may depend on what midwife you have. I'd say mine was on the more liberal side of things and was definitely pro-pain relief - one of my prerequisites when finding my midwife

Out of interest, how long after requesting the epi were your bubs born?

i was only given the epidural because things wernt progressing. DD was kind of stuck in there so she was born with Forceps.

I remember at my antenatal i was told 8cm is normally the cut off.

Kelly, my midwife was Jan Baker - loved her to bits! Will definitely be going with her next time around - I loved my pain-free birth - wouldn't want it any other way

Hmm, I wouldn't compare a spinal with an epidural as the spinal takes effect a lot quicker than epi so I imagine if the midwife thinks you are close to pushing she is probably gonna think an epi is a waste of time.
I didn't get to have any pain relief coz at 7cms dilated had my emergency c sect and I always wonder how much worse it was gonna get lol.