Pethadine in Labour

I am 36 weeks preg 3rd baby. My First was C - section at 34 weeks HELLP syndrome , 2nd 5 days o/d vbac with suction and epidural. This time i was thinking of trying to manage the pain with Pethadine as i received the epidural a little late and could not feel the pushing stage. I would like to know whether the pethadine effects your ability to concentrate, or does it make you sick, does it kill some of the pain or just make you sleepy? Love to hear from you.

It made me very sleepy and didn't ease the pain at all. Sorry, but maybe it's different for other people. Good luck!

i had pethadine and it didn't help the pain for me at all but i think by the time i had it i was past where it would help because i had a long labour so i ended up having an eipdural.

i had it with my first but it didnt really take effect as he was born soon after... i did find that my son was really sleepy when he was born...

with my second i didnt have it at all and found my son to be alot more alert

i think it just takes the edge off the pain and take it away completely... i think it is a more effective option for me as i was able to concentrate more on the pushing stage.

hope this helps!!

Hi

I had pethadine with my 2nd but by the time it kicked in he was already born and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. I found the gas took the edge of but I was still able to sense what my bodyand baby needed me to do. But different drugs affect people different ways.

Hope this helps good luck for your pregnancy and birth.

Hi fluffy!
Pethadine for me worked really well, I didn't sleep, just made me feel more relaxed and the labour pain was gone for some hours until I get the dilation right, then I had an epidural which was great, as I was in labour for almost 36 hours.

Pethidine has residual side effects for both you & the baby. Why don't you see if the hospital where you are having the baby has Fentanyl available. Its given subcutaneously (under the skin) via a catheter inserted near the collarbone, can last up to 2 hours, small doses can be given 15 minutely. Is similar to peth but with less side effects. I had peth with my 1st & it didn't take away any pain at all, just helped me to relax in between contractions. My son was also a bit sleepy for a couple of days after. It also made me say a few funny things that I normally wouldn't have said in front of my mum!!!! Luckily she has a good sense of humour!!! With my 2nd I had nothing (as it was very quick & there was no time for anything!) & my daughter was really alert, but had I wanted anything I had said that Fentanyl would be my pain relief drug of choice. Good luck with everything!!.

Hi
I had gas and pethadine for my labour, I found once I had the pethadine it made me sleepy, so I would tend to sleep inbetween the contractions, which at that stage wasn't very long, but because I was having the gas, (and with the gas you have to suck when you feel the contraction coming) I couldn't feel it starting until it was too strong for the gas to do anything. My feeling was that it didn't help very much, apart from the little sleeps, but really they weren't enough to benefit at 30 sec's apart!! also it was my first and I had a long labour so maybe they are things that impacted the experience.
I hope things go well, all the best! Cath:-)

Hi Amanda,
my experience with pethadine made me vow not to use it again. I felt spaced and was useless for anything like an active birth. It took away the pain but it took away mobility and rational thought as well.
My reaction to peth may be linked to my reaction to other things. I'm a cheap drunk, if I take 2 panadol every 4 hrs I am groggy, the one time I took panadeine I was totally spaced.
The gas worked well for me, and I have to agree that I liked the 'bit' more than the mask.
Good luck with this labour.

Hi Amanda,

My Son Caleb is 7 weeks old today, time really flys.

During his labour i started with the happy gas which made me feel really groggy, eventually i had a pethadine shot and i felt this took the edge off the pain and did not make me sleepy or tired. It was in fact the complete opposite and i was wide awake and more aware of what was happening. Once it started wearing off i wanted more but i was to close to the pushing stage so they could not give me any more.

Really you just have to go along with what your boddy tells you.

Being a first time mum, i had no idea what was happening and just went with the flow, you will know what is best for you but probably not till you are in the moment.

Regards

I had Pethidine with my first (51/2 hour labour). But didn't have time second time around (3 hours!)

It deffinately made me a bit less anxious and relaxed (it didn't take the pain away but the fact that I was a bit more 'unaware' meant I was a bit more at ease with the pain).

The only downside I found with the Pethidine was it made me feel really 'out-of-it' for hours after the birth. I can't describe the feeling but it was a sort of anxious yucky nervous type of feeling (this may have also been a bit of shock from giving birth for the first time?)

I had just the gas the second time (mind you I was asking for pethidine - it was just that I was too far gone). I didn't like the extra awareness of what was going on and found it more difficuilt to 'go with it'. I had more control over things and I'm not sure I was comfortable with that.

I think with the couple of births you've already had I would suggest having just the gas and see how you feel (mind you, the fact that you've had an epidural before will probably mean you'll be screaming for it anyway!!!)

All the best
Aimee