Your feelings on pain relief during labour......

I dont think this is a subject that should be discussed so much, it is every womans choice whether she wants to have pain releif. I personally did not have when I gave birth but when i think back on it i sometimes wish that i did have, maybe then i wouldnt be so traumatised from it? i went in with the attitude that if i need it ill get, if not i wont.i ended up being ok without it so i didnt get anything- but maybe someone elses is much worse-then they should for sure get if they need.

Wow, I've never heard of many of these other methods of pain relief during labor. I've had two children. With my daughter, my husband was very opposed to an epidural, so I said I would try. I couldn't do it, it hurt so bad, and asked for the epidural. They shot demoral into my IV instead, which was so WRONG. It did nothing for the pain at all, but it did knock me out between contractions. I remember very little of my daughter's birth. For my son, I took the epidural as soon as it was offered, and I don't regret it at all. Labor was a much more pleasant experience, and I was completely lucid and still was able to push properly when it was time. If I have another child, I will certainly have the epidural again. I think women who CAN do it naturally are great, and I applaud them. But those of us who want something for the pain should not be looked down on or regarded as weak; it's just not right for women to belittle other women! Women should be free to labor as they see fit, whether it involves something for the pain or not.

I had my first child at the age of 17 so I was very scared and there was no way I was doing it naturally. The doctor used what he called a caudle, no one else I have ever talked to has ever heard of it. It was like the epidural. It really messed up my back and I still felt a lot of pressure when I was having my son. So with the next two I decided to do it naturally and if I had decided to have more I would have chosen natural birth as well. I just didn't feel the temporary pain relieve was worth the lifetime back problems I have endured since the use. It still hurts if anyone touches the area where the relieve was injected in my back.

hi ph4`9always I had an epidural for my first child and this was really great. It saved me energy to push my baby' out and I had no side effects at all.However my second delivery was all in all a total disaster. Because I wentway over my due date, my doctor decided to induce labor, and I was in severe pain for hours plus everytime he listened to my babys heart beat he looked frightened. well he should have been. I had no pain meds and it took hours for her to be born.I overheard the nurse say shouldnt you do a caesarian on her, and he said no her insurance would not cover it. he was wrong. I had blue cross and blue shield at the time. she was born not breathing, black in her face, finally they got her to breathe, but due to his meanness she was born brain damaged due to lack of oxygen. She was a sweet child but doomed to only live for eight years. took me a long time to come to grips with all of that, I still blame that doctor and he said later he would not charge me as he had goofed.

I think it is wonderful! especially for women who labour for hours and hours having the relief available is important! I didnt use anything with my first child once pushing I dont have pain I was in labour 45 minutes pushing for 2 hours so mostly I wasnt in pain so it was fine, my youngest though I was in labour 1 hour 7 minutes but only pushing for 15 so I had some gas and air with her because it was complete agony very very fast and very intense im glad it was available it helped keep me calm and focused and I think thats really important for a woman in labour to help her get the labour and delivery she wants and needs.

Hello ph419always Well when I had my first child my contractions started at 12.30 am. When it got too much, about 10am, they gave me gas and air. About 3pm they wouldn't give me any more so I had an epidural. Finally my son was born at 10.30pm! I was glad of the epidural and never suffered any side effects from it. With second child my contractions started, we got to the hospital and 2 hours and 45 minutes he arrived and I think I had about three puffs of gas and air only because it was there and offered to me. With my third, he was born in 2 and half hours from the start of contractions and I had no pain releif with him at all even though his head got a bit stuck!!

I am currently first time pregnant, and I am deciding whether I am going to use the epidural, or just the pain killer and gas will do. You mean it takes some time to find the right spot to put in the epidural?

I cannot tolerate pain very well so I used pain relief when I had my son. I had the epidural and it helped a lot but then I had to have an emergency c-section because the cord was wrapped around his neck in two knots. So then I had something called a saddle block and I didn't feel a thing and I was able to stay awake through the whole thing. I don't really know the pro's and con's on using pain relief and I probably don't want to know the bad things that could have happened. I do know a lady that had both her kids with no pain relief and she had them at home and I give her kuddos because I sure could not have done that.

For my first child it took a while before I started feeling contractions and it was when it was in my back that it hurt like hell and I wanted something. My husband tried to rub my back but it didn't help and I didn't really want him touching me b/c I was in a lot of pain. I was worried about the needle but once that pain started I just wanted something to make it stop and I got the epidural. I had to have a c-section. For the second one they didn't give me my epidural until they were ready to do my c-section but I was having contractions and was hurting so I was ready for it when they finally came in. I missed my afternoon nap so once I had the baby I fell asleep while they were still working on me lol.

I think it is totally up to the person and what they want to do for themselves. I didn't have any, but I didn't really feel that my labor was all that painful (compared to what people claimed). I do, however, have a very high tolerance for pain and always have. If it would have been too painful for me, I would not have hesitated to ask for an epidural. If the doctor says there it would not be good for the mother or baby, that is another story, and should be taken into consideration. But otherwise, I think it is a personal choice.

I did not use chemical pain relief during labor but I have a very high pain tolerance AND I didn't consider labor pain the same as pain from an injury, accident, or illness. I also researched quite heavily during my pregnancy and decided that I'd rather go without up to the point where I HAD to have it rather than just do it and risk being that one out of 100 moms whose babies got affected by the epidural. I also don't like the thought of needles near my back OR the thought of being numb from the chest down either. There is also the whole issue of epidurals and spinals which do not take, or only take on one side, and I have known moms who had C-SECTIONS and their spinal did not block the feeling! I took a childbirth class based on lamaze and I used only the deep, slow, breathing during labor. I was only in labor at the hosp for 5 hours before my daughter was born, prior to getting to the hosp, I had been in labor but trying to sleep at home, then taking care of my other kids and getting them to the bus stop for school. I remember that my older daughter wanted to stay home (she was 14) but I made her go to school anyway. I figured I'd be in labor all day and probably still in the evening but I was wrong lol. If I did it again, I would do the same, I never felt in horrible pain from the contractions. I think I would have wanted to videotape though because I didn't.

things were very different in san francisco. what else is new ?? plus it was 31 years ago. first, i did not use any pain relief as i wanted my child to experience that new "tub" bath sensation. called the leboyer method. this is taking the child and putting them in a tub with water with temperature exactly the same as amniotic fluid. child is NOT submerged. just gently held to float. it's a peaceful way for your child to experience the transition between inutero and birth. i also used the bradley method of labor. it focused on "riding the wave of sensations"...not pain. as i said, it was california in 1977. i did not feel "pain" per se. just pressure. my daughter was 9-1/2 pounds and 21 inches in length. you are correct: it is the TEN's machine.

hi ph419always i belong to india and there are so many believes for everything ofcourse for labour pain also. but amazing it really works. when i got my first child the pain started at 6:30am and my son took birth at 11:55 am then i come to know that when pain starts don't tell ur husband and i was in my mother's home . so i didn't tell him . when i got my second child then i have come to know that when pain starts ,. while going to hospital just stand in the middle of the door and drink one glass of milk and go. i did that . it really worked. the pain started at 7 am and we reached at hospital at 8 pm the way to hospital was only of 10 mins i was thinking whether it is labour pain or something else. but amazing i son got birth at 8:16 am immediately after a6 mins when we reached at hospital. so................ i don't know how so easily. may be some believes or something else. i don't know what u people will say about it ignorance or illiteracy. well but.......... we believe. take care.

I thought I could go natural all the way. We even took a Lamaze class. I really believed that I had a high tolerance for pain. I was gravely mistaken. My labor pains were really, well, painful. When we got to the hospital I was 4 centimeters dilated but the contractions were already painful. When I got to 7 centimeters, I asked for an epidural. I thought I'd get to 10 centimeters pretty quickly but I didn't they had to give me another shot or the anesthesia cos it wore off after a few hours. The only downside to having an epidural for me is that I couldn't feel the contractions at all so when the doctor would tell me it's time to push I couldn't do it properly. Two nurses had to sort of bear down on me to help me push down.

hi there..i already have 3 small kids and i did not use any pain relievers at all...thanks to God and my babies they did not gave me hard times when i was on labour...btw i just had my youngest baby 2 months ago..i could still remember the pain and the things that i had to go through..i will never have another baby..3 is enough for me.

That tens machine is useless, well it was for me anyway. I tried that in my second pregnancy and I thought it was horrible! I literally gave birth to him with nothing as the gas and air they gave me was not working! In my first pregnancy I had everything going, I had gas and air, epidural and pethidine. Out of all of them I would say that epidural was the best, never felt a thing with that baby flowing through my veins! Downside of that though, I could not stand up for a while after as it totally numbed me! I would say that the best birth I had was my third baby, I was on gas and air and I had it through a mask rather than the thing in my mouth and boy did that work well. I have never hallucinated so much in my life, I felt like I was floating and that birth was the easiest I have ever had and the most painless! I had gas and air in my fourth pregnancy but again I had it through a mouthpiece instead of a mask and it did not work the same at all. I had pethidine too and that did nothing.

I had an epidural with both of my kids. To be perfectly honest i am not a person that handles pain well and dont think that I could have gotten through without it. The only con that I can think of is the risk of having an epidural. If you move or it is not done right you could be paralyzed. Also the pain of having an epidural. With my first baby I did not feel the epidural but with my second I think it hurt more than the contractions. I am not sure if the guy didnt know what he was doing or what. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Have a nice day.

i have never took any pain relieve during my three labour. I only took the gas twice, if i am not mistaken. i guess it has to do with how i 'train' my mind on this matter.Few months before i go into labour, i told myself that i wont be needing epidural. its not as painful as people may say. And it does work for me. I could really stand the pain, which was not that much.

Can you pm me the another site? i think i commented in that discussion alredy. Anyways i get pain because my little bro is sooooo stressing ! Have Fun!

I don't remember what they gave me but I didn't get it in time to kick in fully.My contractions started about 11 pm.When my husband got home about 11:45 from work,they were about 10 minutes apart.Had to drop 2 other kids off at his dad's on the way to hospital.Got to hospital about 1:10 am.Had to wait for ob's ok to give me pain meds.Finally got them about 1:30.My son was born at 2:05.Thirty five minutes of the most intense pain I had ever felt.Will never use an epidural but will use an iv pain drip.