to those who gave birth without the epidural UPDATE!

by **thats amore** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 10:15 am

hi ladies

i'm due my first baby in just under 2 weeks and although i've been, and still am, quite relaxed about the birth a few nerves are beginning to kick in.

due to a back injury i have been told that an epidural is not an option for me. i am ok with this as i have so much pain there already, the thoughts of a needle going into the site of pain makes me tense up! however, i suppose it would have been nice to have the option if i felt i needed it!

anyway, i would like to hear from other women who gave birth without the epidural and how it was for you. what form/s of pain relief did you use and how helpful did you find it?

i would really appreciate your feedback :thnk

wedjul05 · by **wedjul05** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 10:21 am

Hey amore,

Best of luck for your impending arrival :o)ll

I didn't have time for one, I went from 4cm to fully dilated in about 30 mins. I was screaming for one tho!!

The pain was manageable. I used gar and air, which was good and gave me sth to focus on. The pushing part wasn't painful as such, just very uncomfortable. You have to push against the feeling when everything in your body is telling you to not push!! Breathing helps alot but this can be hard to focus on when you are having a painful contraction. The midwife helped me focus on my breathing and I have to say, it really helped with the pain.

I had back pain only during my labour. DH rubbed really hard on my back all the time which was great, made the area numb.

You'll be grand. At least you know you can't have an epi. It's all worth it.

the moms · by **the moms** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 10:32 am

Hiya, I didn't have an epi either. I used gas and air and a tens machine. Breathing helped loads too. I did a lot of prenatal yoga which I think really helped with the breathing on the day. Oh, and there was a great shower in the delivery room that was fantastic too. I spent a good while in there.

I got to the hospital at 8pm and was 1cm, DS was born at 2.30am. There were a couple of times I nearly went for the epi when it felt like it was going to last forever, but I waited for the next exam and luckily I was progressing so I decided to hold out. I was glad I did in the end because my recovery was much more straightforward than the other women on the ward that had the epidural. I was up and about the next day. So for me it was definitely worth it, more painful at the time, but a much speedier recovery afterwards.

Pretty sure I'll try without the epi next time too. Hope this helps!

Best of luck!!

by **Elliecat** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 10:51 am

I didn’t go for the epi either – I opted to go to the Midwifery Led unit in my hospital, so it wasn’t an option there. I had done a bit of the gentlebirth programme at home which I definitely think helped to keep me calm and as relaxed as I could be in the circumstances. I also used a TENS machine and the gas and Air. I’d definitely recommend the TENS, I was using it right up until then end, although at the very end I think it was a mental thing rather than actual relief – I felt I was having some control even though thinking back, I don’t think I could feel any difference for the last couple of hours or so, but definitely worth it for the first while – I went into labour at about 6am (hospital from 9am) and didn’t have baba till almost 10pm that night and I had the TENS on from before I left the house. I had pethidine about half an hour before baby was born, but to be honest I don’t think it made any difference at that stage – I probably should have asked for it earlier for it to have made a difference.

You’ll be absolutely grand without it, no need to worry at all. Just inform yourself of all the options open to you and keep an open mind about what you might go for – I didn’t intend getting the pethidine even, but on the day I decided to go for it. HTH, and all the best!

by **Dairy Queen** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 10:56 am

hiya you'll be fine, I used tens and yoga breathing for most of labour. Yoga breathing was the key, if you haven't been taking classed just start practicing now really deep breaths. My yoga teacher was german and all through labour every contraction I could hear her accent, deeply in and deeply out.
I went for a bath for 2 hour which was brilliant, contractions were very intense at this stage lasting for 2 mins and only a minute break but with the breathing it was fine. I was very nausios(have to learn how to spell that word) and ice cold water really helped.
Had gas and air for the last stage and it was great didn't feel any pain down below just contractions but g and a totally took the edge off them.
Only thing I will say is try to do all else (bath, breathing, tens etc) and try to hold off using gas and air for as long as possible as it will make you totally out of it. (well it make me out of it)

Best of luck you'll be fine!!! Don't know if you are into the hypnobirthing thing but it would be worth repeating some affirmations to yourself in the next 2 weeks. If you pm Tracy D she will send you some I'm sure.

jellybaby · by **jellybaby** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 10:58 am

I used a tens for a while, then gas and air for a while, but fecked it away as it was useless :o0

. Honestly, I can't say the pain was manageable, it was unbearable really (but my baby was OP, so that makes it more painful). BUT.....it's worth it to do it without the epi, as the relief once baby is born is amazing. I was able to get up and into the shower myself about an hour after the delivery (had to be stitched first). I left hospital 6hrs later and it was great to walk out of there on my own.

I had had the epi with DD, and while I wouldn't knock it at all (it was fantastic) I was confined to the bed for hours afterwards, even though I could walk shakily (they won't let you out of bed!!), and just felt crappy! The difference between the two labours, and the recovery afterwards, made me glad I did it without the epi second time.

Best of luck!

by **lovebug997** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 11:02 am

I didn't have time for the epi either! Got to the hospital at 1.45am and dd was born at 2.06am! I used the gas and air and found this brilliant! Well didn't have a choice since I didn't have time for anything else! I also did deep breathing. Not so much concentrated on it but a few times just found myself doing it naturally! Hope everything goes well for you!
My advice would be to go for as long as you physically can with nothing. Then when you get the gas and air it will seem like heaven!

by **Dairy Queen** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 11:11 am

bride-2b wrote:My advice would be to go for as long as you physically can with nothing. Then when you get the gas and air it will seem like heaven!

Thats what I was trying to say :-8

Also just to let you know I was induced and in labour for 15 hours so it is not just do able on quick labours.

theoracle · by **theoracle** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 11:19 am

I only did without on DD2, but the labour was much shorter.

My top tips would be
- breathing through contractions
- counting through contractions (that helped me a lot)
- stay mobile and walk around if you can - walking through contractions helped I found
- a bath in early stages also helps, but beware of the first contraction after getting out of the bath - it's a killer!
- if your water haven't broken by themselves I would recommend not having them artifically broken early - contractions are far more intense once waters have gone

I had no pain relief on my second, gas and air does nothing for me (except make me sick), but the recovery was just magnificent, I think I had sort of an adrenaline surge because I was in a state of pure euphory.

by **Dairy Queen** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 11:26 am

I didn't know that about the waters hu101, my waters still hadn't gone when I was fully dialated maybe thats why I thought it was grand :-8

theoracle · by **theoracle** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 11:35 am

DQ the waters went first on DD1 and not till the full dillation on DD2 and believe you me - there is a difference. On DD2 I kept thinking I couldn't be that far along yet, as the pain was bad but just wasn't that bad! My sis also told me she was coping fine with pain and then they broke her waters and she did not know what hit her! And many birth stories here mention this too!

the moms · by **the moms** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 12:57 pm

Oh yes, I agree with that! I didn't have my waters broken. They went themselves when I was 6cm gone. Things def got more intense from that point on!

by **blue9** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 1:08 pm

Hi,

I didn't have the epidural either. I decided before hand that I wanted to do my best to avoid it since it increases the chances of interventions like forceps and episiotomy.

I have a very long labour. 30 hrs from start to finis but I was at home for about 14 hrs of that and it was quite managable. At about 6 in the evening it started getting tough but I held out until midnight by then I was throwing up and when examined I hadn't dialated at all so I felt enough was enough and asked for some pethidine. This was great! I could still feel the contractions but i felt lovely and cuddled DH, snoozed and listened to music for the rest of the night. As it wore off the contactions came back worse then ever but when I was examined I was 3cm!! I asked for more pethidine but was told to go down to delivery room and have it there. By the timne I was down there and settled in I was 8cm and it was too late. I felt a worried but the midwife told be the baby would be here by 10 which focused me and I knew I could last 2 hrs. My waters didn't go until 10cm and after they went I was told to push. Baby arrived about half an hour later. It was painful but knowing it would be over by 10 really helped.

Sorry for the essay!
I just wanted to highlight that the pethidine helped me. I was able to rest so despite the long labouir I was able to cope at the end. I also found it helpful to have a time to focus on - I kept checking the clock!

This thread shows how different labour can be for women but no matter fast or slow it can be done witout an epidural. I also did yoga and would really reccomend it.

Good luck with the birth!

by **McMummy** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 1:12 pm

I didn't have an EPI either just the TENS and G&A. I had my waters broke and that really speed things up but to be honest after 32 hours of pre-labour pains I was really tired so I needed to get things going. The pain increased a lot after my waters were broken but I went into a shower and the warm water really helped my pain. I had the G&A while in the shower too. I did get very out of it with the G&A but I wouldn't have managed without it. Sadly (and I mean I nearly cried) they took the G&A off me for the pushing which I found very painful but baby was OP so would have been better if he wasn't.

by **Sphynx** » Thu Jan 22, 2022 1:35 pm

Gosh that is really interesting about the waters Hu101. Mine went naturally before I ever got a contraction and I have been puzzling over why on earth the contractions were so bad from the word go - I had no build-up at all. Thanks for giving us that info!

to those who gave birth without the epidural UPDATE!

to those who gave birth without the epidural UPDATE!

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