Pain relief in labour

Up to now I have been convinced that I will be having an epidural for the pain in labour and now I am not too sure and it has turned my view of labour on its head. Apparently it slows down labour and increases the likelihood of a forcepts/ventouse delivery or a c section dramatically. And I am dead set against forcepts/ventouse. I don't really think hypnotherapy or breathing is going to do it for me as far as pain relief goes, I am someone that grabs for the panadol at the slightest idea of a headache. I would love to hear what you guys think. Anything really...anyone had a good vb after epidural, anyone using the gas or other pain relief...and anyone that went all natural..or waterbirth?

With Daniel I sucked on gas. I don't know how much it actually did as far as pain went but the one really good thing I found with it was that I focussed really hard on my breathing which worked as a good distraction. He was also a posterior bubs which is meant to be more painful especially in the back. His labour was approx 10 hours

With Jared he was induced and was told that the preterm labour and the speed in which it would happen would be way worse than a "normal" birth. They were fully prepped to give me an epidural but I did it on gas an fentnyl (similar to pethidine) and pushed my waters, Jared and placenta out in one go. My waters didn't burst until they hit the table . That labour was about 2hrs all up

I'd rather not have an epidural. The pain stops immediately once bubs is out and I'd rather not risk the side effects of having a needle shoved in my spinal area. Thats just me. But I loved gas and loved fentnyl

I managed to suck down about 1.5 bottles of gas with DS1. To be quite honest, I probably huffed more than I was meant to and I was a bit spaced out, but in terms of pain, not too bad!! I also spent the first part in the pool which helped too, as it's relaxing.

You have to remember that while it will hurt for the labour part, generally once baby comes, you will totally forget that pain!

the twins were born by c-sec planned and it was an epidural - no pain at all, and it went smoothly.

Good luck with whatever you choose

I think the best thing to do is go in with an open mind - plan to start out with the gas, then if it's too much you have the option of an epidural.

I don't have a particularly high pain threshold, but didn't end up needing more than the gas, so you might surprise yourself. Just remember that it's not a constant pain when you're in labour - yes the contractions hurt but they only last for a minute or so, and there isn't pain as such between them so you do get a break.

I had panadol and some time in the pool for my first baby. That was fine until about transition when it started to hurt a bit but by then the end is in sight.

I was really anti having an epi for the same reason you say, that it would just slow everything down and start a cascade of events that would have it all beyond my control.

I'd rather be in more pain and get it over with iykwim. Less risk to all involved and a nice alert baby and mummy straight away. Ditto what one of the others said that you have the pain during the contraction but in between there is no pain so you just have to get through that bit.

I have had friends though who had the contractions one upon another without breaks and in those cases people often need the epi as they just get too tired and it just gets too much.

It's hard to know what your labour will be like so get your plan sorted and stay positive knowing that lots of people have natural births with no procedures. But if you need something you need it, it doesn't mean you failed, it just means you had a hard labour and used what was available to you. They are all different and as long as you get a healthy baby at the end then mission accomplished.

Well, I was also dead set against an epidural for all the reasons you mention. I was coping ok with panadol and rescue remedy, but it go to the point where it wasn't progressing and I needed syntocinon, my ob estimated I had another 4-5 hours to go (correctly, as it turned out) and suggested I think about pain relief. Gas didn't do anything for me except make me feel sick, I then spent an hour (!) talking to the midwife about pros and cons of pethidine vs epidural, and decided on an epidural. Best thing I could have done! It was in in under 2 min, completely painless, immediate pain relief although I could still feel the contractions and could feel to push. Had a totally normal VB, only side effect was fluid retention but that went within a couple of days.

It won't be my first choice of pain relief in the future, but like others said you need to go in with an open mind - you might find you cope just fine without it, but then you might find the pain too much and an epidural might be an option.

I've had both ends of the spectrum.

#1 was a complicated birth, he was posterior and his head was tilted funny, distressed and my BP was dropping. The contractions didn't stop (they were, at 3cm, what they should be at 10cm). So had to have an epi, not mainly for the pain (although thank god I did!) but because we had to slow the labour and get myself and DS well enough to go through the birth. It did slow the labour down a bit but then had syntocin. He was a ventouse delivery. The main thing I hated was not being able to feel a damn thing (but I had a full spinal block rather than a lower epi). Was booked in for an emergency c/s but we managed to get him out. Labour was just under 7 hours. (Decided against pethidine as I get really sick on it, and gas didn't do anything as I was in too much pain to focus on breathing).

#2 - labour was 47 hours But she wasn't posterior, distressed and I was well. I used the bath until 1 hour before she was born. At hospital (only there for an hour, as active labour was only 3 hours) I had gas. The pain relief wasn't that great, it's more for distraction.

I personally would go for an epi over pethidine. And my m/w told me not to waste money on a TENS machine because by the time you need pain relief you need more, and it restricts your movement/ability to get in water for long periods etc.

BTW I much preferred my 2nd birthing experience. It was a lot easier to be able to walk straight afterwards etc. But the first birth was a bit of a pain from the get go so not the best to compare to.

I had an epidural and I'll put my hand up again if I have another one! Apart from having it inserted twice (the anaesthetist got blood in the 1st line) no problems at all, five hours later bubs in my arms straight forward delivery no tearing at all (no stitches), no pain and up moving around next morning no problems. The most painful thing was having the lure insert in my hand and my waters being broken. I had been induced and the line was in within an hour, unfortunately I had high blood pressure so my midwife wasn't mucking around and it was all go very quickly, and I am so glad I didn't need a c/s. Good luck!

I too agree on having an open mind... this is my first so I really have no idea of the pain ahead of me but biggest thing I have been told is going in there and expecting the unexpected
Im choosing (as long as bubs is happy) to have a water birth this will be my pain relief. Im dead set against having any drugs as I have read up in length about the side effects it causes your baby after birth, and see it as its not just me going through all of this. But thats only how I view it of course and I might get there and decide I NEED it???

You could also look into acupressure which your support person can do to help with the pain. Good luck with your decision