Pain relief

Ooo Im going to *lurk* because I dont want to use pethadine or have an epidural, so Im curious about whether gas will be enough for the entire period (that and my DHs new massage techniques lol)

Apparently there's another drug like Pethadine but which has less impact on the baby - Fentanyl.
Don't know much about it at all - not even if I spelled it correctly but maybe some others can give you more advice on that.

Also with the Epi you don't have to have a 'full block' so you may not have to lose the ability to walk about.

But anyway as I say I don't know very much about any of these at this stage so I'll leave now and let someone more experienced shed light on all this

Edited by Bobbie

I found the epidural great with my first birth as Ella was posterior and I had a looong, back labour. The epidural gave me a break and relief from the intensity.
I could still feel the contractions and pressure, so I knew when to push but they weren't painful. It was a bit harder to push though but that might also have been to do with her being round the wrong way! I could still feel her come out and it was awesome!
My second birth I had no pain relief and it was fine. The only bit I was really wishing for pain relief in was the 'ring of fire' when he was crowning, YEOUCH! Luckily that doesn't last very long!
I think it is realistic to only plan to use gas. Water is awesome for pain relief and if you can't use the pools the showers are also really good.

lilfatty wrote: (that and my DHs new massage techniques lol)

Has your DH been practising lilfatty? I've already been treated to 2 massages & have been promised another one tonight. DH has *really* surprised me with how he has taken the info on board

i didnt want any pain relief. with my first birth i ended up having to have an epi to lower my blood pressure and i HATED IT! eek! they had several attempts at putting the needle in my back (owch!) i had a weeweird leg spasm felt like a twit! i still felt dialation and it was allowed to wear off before pushing but still had to be told when to puosh. i personally hate being numb with a passion so didnt want it and would nave another by choice!
the next two births were drug free and great :) i wanted to use a warm bath as any relief and it was great. sped things up i "think" and while i still found it tricky to get comfortable at times especially nearing transition the bath was sooo nice.
my sister sucked on gas with hers and it made her feel sick.

I didn't want pethidine at all & wasn't that keen on an epidural, so had that in my birth plan as a last resort. I used a bit of massage, the labour pools at the hospital & found that being on my feet & kind of moving was much easier than labouring on a bed. I also used gas. So yep, it's definitely possible to only use gas for the labour & birth.

Ok i have two stories, mine and a friend. Mine, i used gas its not the contractions you need pain relief for its the pushing..oooowwwwccchhh.. so i found all i was doing was chewig on the mouth piece, then they took it off me and i chewed my thumbs.. had bruises the next day!

A friend of mine got induced and had epi.. now this is worse case senario.. 4 hours after she had him they told her to stand up, she could feel her leg and they said it would come back in a few hours, the next day she still had no feeling from the knee down.. he is now 4 and a half months old and she still has no feeling and walks with a limp.. They said it will most likely be permanent.

Again, that very rarely happens..

Sally, I used a TENS machine in early labour and it was great. I'm honestly not sure if it was that the vibrations helped or if it was just a distraction to be fiddling with the buttons, but either way it was good to have.

When my labour didn't progress I was hooked up to a syntocinin drip and the midwife and OB very stronglysuggested that i have an epidural, as when you're induced you go straight into fully blown contractions which doesn't give your body a chance to 'work up' to it - your endorphins don't build up along the way.

So I had the epidural and it was GREAT (no really, I would have proposed to the anaesthetist if I wasn't already married!) until it wore off after a few hours and the top-up didn't work. Apparently that's rare but it does happen. So I was effectively drug-free through transition, pushing and delivery and it hurt like hell, but obviously it was surviveable

No after-effects from the epi at all, although it was a bit annoying having to lie on my side on a bed for a few hours. Not too long after delivery I was up and walking around, I showered unassisted after an hour and so on.


On the other hand, my neighbour had her 9lb boy with nothing more than a TENS machine and five panadol.


I guess just be flexible with your expectations and go with whatever you feel the need for at the time.

I had an epidural and loved it and while I was restricted to bed I still actually felt her come out but without the pain.

It pays to know what each type of drug does and I believe that you need to do into your labour with an open mind. You might be against having an Epi now but in the heat of it all, you might want to change your mind. Just keep your options open

Edited by GeorgiaB

You can ask them not to top up your epi for the pushing part, you will feel ALL of it then!!! The epi helps lower blood pressure and you may even be able to rest for a bit, in preperationfor the big push.

My advice is to not totally rule anything out, as you have no idea what it feels like or how you will cope till the time!