Pain Relief

Hi my name is Pina,
Im about to have my first baby in seven weeks and would like to have some feed back about what pain relief works the best when in labour I would like to try and have a natural birth.

hi my name is natalie and i have a 5 mth old daughter caprice. well i had no pain relief when i was in labour i was in labour for 2 nights and 1 day and then i had the drip put in and everything went real quick i did try the gas towards the end but it done nothing for me cause i didnt want anything in my mouth the best thing is to just breath through the contractions and moving round alot helps i also found it comfortable sitting on the toilet.if you want a natural labour you can do it without pain relief well i did anyway.good luck and i hope everything goes well.
nat

Hi Pina,
I also wanted to have a natural birth but as it was my first baby I was fully aware that I didn't know what it was going to be like and decided I would just go with it. I didn't see the point of having a rigid birth plan when anything could happen.

All births are different but I have to say, for me, massage in the lower back area worked like a dream. I took along some lavender scented cream and my Mum rubbed it in during each contraction. Ny husband had a go at it but he didn't do it quite the same - he was there to hold my hand which was very comforting.

I ended up using gas and air which I found to be fantastic. I started it on a low concentration and then when the pain became too much to handle I asked it to be flicked up a notch. This got me through to the end and that's all I ended up needing. However, when I thought I needed to turn up the gas I would wait for another contraciton to see if I could hold off for a bit longer and often I found I could for several contractions. This strategy meant I was further in my labour when I got to the stong gas which minimised the chance of me needing other pain relief.

I have to admit that I asked for pethidine right near the end ( I was in transition but didn't know it at the time) but by the time the midwife came back with the needle I was pushing. It is so true when you hear other mothers say that when you think you can't cope any more, you're almost there!

I tried the bath early in my labour but found it didn't work for me as it added discomfort to my lower back.

Good luck with everything! Let me know how you get on.

Hi Pina
You've just got to be open to anything and go with the flow!!
I said I would try and go as natural as possible, without any "hard" drugs - except the gas, but I found that did nothing for me.
I ended up having an epidural, as they insisted on getting my son out (4 months old), and I have to say, I don't regret it one bit.
Good luck

Hi. I have had two babies. For my first daughter I went into labour on the Wednesday and didn't have her til the Friday. My second daughter I went into labour 9am in the morning and had her at 7pm that night. For both labours I had nothing but gas and hands to hold onto. Mind you, if your partner is going to be in the room holding the gas for you, make sure when you need the gas, it's already in your mouth. In my first labour I bit my (now fiancee) because he didn't get the gas in my mouth soon enough. Also, from the moment I was in the birthing room I was on a birthing ball and in the shower. Once it was time to do the heavy duty pushing I was on the bed laying on my knees holding onto the back of the bed and pushing. This was most comfortable for me. I had my first daughter at 18 and my second at almost 20. Through my whole pregnancy I was psyching myself up. I think it worked. Best of luck

Hi Pina,

All I can say is...Go the epidural...it is gods gift to womankind !

Angela.

I agree with Jax - go with the flow! Try not to go in with too many preconceptions about Labour because let me tell you - no matter how hard you prepare you are NEVER quite ready for it. When you really get into hard core labour your whole attitude just changes and you're like a completely different person - so just go with the flow. Whatever works - works!

I found pethidine to be an excellent pain reliever because I had been in labour for a long time and really needed to sleep. I had the shot and slept through two hours of contractions and barely remember the two after that. (at that point in time it was time to push - Hannah had other ideas but that's a different story! I panicked a bit when they told me she wasn't ready to come out yet and so it all went to hell - but she arrived safe and sound 5 hours later!)

I also found in the early stages whilst I could still concentrate and focus enough that breathing through contractions really really helped! If you want to use breathing though you need to do some practice at focusing and concentrating. (Which is difficult when you have no idea about the pain you're about to go through)

Otherwise - epidurals are a nice option too - but do also have a downside (the same as pethidine). I didn't have one, so I can't comment.

But like I said - go with the flow and don't let anyone take you down because you decide to use painkillers.

I always say - why live in a country which can give us the options for pain relief through labour and not use it??? smile

Hi Pina
I agree with you Angela..Go the Epidural!!!
I'm a big wuss bag when it comes to pain. I couldn't use the gas and I didn't want pethidine (they say it crosses over to bub via the placenta, just making bub a little drowsy) so I decided on an epidural. I must say it did slow it down, but they break your waters and insert a drip to try and offset the slowness. My epidural ran out toward the end (yes, just when I needed it!!) but I was at the pushing stage and the bearing down and pushing actually relieved the contraction pain and wella - bubs was born very quickly. (mind you, I would have needed an epidural anyway-they topped it at right at the very end when they needed to use a vacum extraction) But all this melted away when I held my little baby in my arms.
Early on in the labour (before any pain relief was administered) having a bath helped, and then in the delivery suite having a shower (one with a movable shower head) was really good as well. (gently moved the shower head over my belly, worked wonders) Good Luck - though you must be pretty close to your due date now.

hi pina:) i had gas & air with all my children, in my experience, i luved gas & air, it worked wonders, but may not work 4 every1, just keep a open mind:) i'm sure things will turn out fine.......lorraine.

Hi Pina,

Don't want to talk too much about my labour 'cause it was a nightmare, and I don't want to scare you..... But I thought I'd have a natural birth because both my mum and my sister had good, fast labours.....

Mine didn't turn out like that. All I can say is, be open to the idea of pain relief. The gas was FANTASTIC for me, I think it mainly took my mind off the pain as I was concentrating on breathing the gas. I did end up getting an epidural, and would not hesitate AT ALL next time in getting one. Having said that, I would also try for a natural birth next time (even though I don't think there will be a next time!).

Good luck!

Hi Pina,

I wanted a natural birth also so i refused any pain relief, even though i was to be hooked up to a syntocinon drip which they told me would hurt... and it did!!! I managed to make it through the labour though until the transition when i couldn't handle it and had one suck at the gas (absolutely useless) and 'cause it did nothing i decided to just handle the pain as it wasn't long before i gave two pushes and my bub was out!

Usually when the pain is really bad it is too late anyway to have anything.

Hang in there love, the pain is forgettable and you have a beautiful baby as a result. I'd do it again. Besides, my Mum couldn't believe the pain i was in. She only had a few little pains like period pain she said and out we popped. Everyone is different so don't feel alarmed.

Good luck!

Thankyou to everyone who replyed back. All of you have made me feel alot better about not feeling bad if I need to use some kind of pain relief. I am going to try a natural birth but have the pain relief on standby just in case.
thankyou Pina