Moms who want to feel absolutely NO pain

LuvMyGamecocks · Oct 15, 2006

As a mom that has experienced pitocin, I think that it should go hand in hand with some sort of pain relief (if nothing else, to take the edge off) unless specifically requested otherwise. I had an epidural at 4-5 cm, it slowed progression, they started the pit, the epidural started to wear off and all hell broke loose. I ended up delivering via c/s, despite my original wishes. But, truth be known, I was grateful to no longer be in agony.

If I might offer a flip side to this...would you want your dentist to start drilling BEFORE he gave you a shot of Novocain? Would you want anesthesia AFTER your surgeon started cutting?

If we can safely assert that Pitocin is in fact hell, why not put the two hand in hand? Is the detriment of an epidural to labor so much that a mom shouldn't have the right to ask for it initially? What do you think?

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 15, 2006

It's not a contest. No one gets a prize for the greatest endurance under the most strain or pain. Just because a person wants pain relief, e.g. epidural, does not make her somehow "less a person" or one you would put to shame. Indeed, it is "to each her own". Let the laboring woman and her loved ones make an informed and educated decision, in the absence of medical/nursing prejudice, either for, or against, having an epidural or pain meds. That is all I ask.

LuvMyGamecocks · Oct 15, 2006

:yeahthat:

Mrs.S · Oct 15, 2006

Now, based on my experiences, I have come to believe many women come in asking for epidurals early-on due to the endless horror stories they hear from well-meaning friends, relatives and those *oh so wonderful* Baby Story shows on TV. Also, I KNOW many doctors are pushing epidurals early-on in pregnancy too. I have seen more than one doc roll his/her eyes and ask "WHY does she want to go natural anyhow? Seems so stupid to me". That attitude sure does not help....nor does the fact that many nurses have no clue HOW to care for naturally-laboring women. I do know most women fear abandonment in labor----so much so, that if a good support system is not in place, the pain they endure is perceived as MUCH WORSE than it may be IF staff/support people are prepared and ever-present in their labor process.....
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OMG, you said it so well!!
Where I work, most of the docs are all for the epidural whenever mom needs it, regardless of dilatation. A few will order epidural at 4 cm. We have had instances, though, where the mom is in pain but only 2 cm, and though we have the physician order, the anesthesiologist refuses to do it. there are a couple of anesthesiologists that will do that. that is when we have the OB and anesthesia talk directly. takes the RN out of the middle.
I had a multip come in from the office at 6 cm and asked for her epidural before AROM and Pit. She was not contracting at all, but she had a history of precipitous labors. The OB said sure, so I called. I was afraid the anesthesiologist would be pissed when he found out she had zero pain, but he was cool with it...

Gompers, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2006

Face it: Many women (and their HCPs and support people) are not too keen on even trying to endure the arduous labor process w/o the epidural these days.

This has been a banner year for babies in my circle. I am the only one even considering an epidural-free lady partsl birth. The ONLY one. They all think I'm crazy.

I am open to pain-relief options, though. I'm all for IV pain meds early in labor, though I also hope to be able to get in the tub for a bit because a hot bath is like magic for me. I'd also agree to an epidural if my BP shoots up too high during labor, if I'm on Pit and it's kicking my butt, or if it's taking a really long time for me to progress and I need to rest for a bit. But I am definitely going into it hoping to do it without!

I understand that other women think I'm crazy and that if there is a way to have a pain-free labor and delivery, they're going to jump at it. I'm glad we have that option in this day and age. It's just not for everybody.

Altalorraine · Oct 15, 2006

This has been a banner year for babies in my circle. I am the only one even considering an epidural-free lady partsl birth. The ONLY one. They all think I'm crazy.

I had drug-free, epidural-free births four times. Each experience was very different. But what gets me is that people start listing the reasons that my births were easy and their births were so hard so of course they had to choose epidural.

The reason I had epidural-free births is because I chose to. Period.

Altalorraine

P.S. It is possible to have an epidural-free birth even with pitocin.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2006

I too have had 4 babies without the assistance of an epidural. There are 2 reasons for me not having it 1) I cannot stand the pressure on your back when they insert them (I had one with my first) and I want to get up immediatly following delivery and clean up. I have had the pit with all my babies and it takes great focus and support to get through it. Most of the time I progress so fast there would be no time anyway. I think if you need it at whatever stage and they will let you have it.. then get it. Not every woman handles pain the same way. I just happen to have a high pain tolerance when it comes to this and with all my babies usually dont even really feel my contractions until I am around 7-8 cm. We all know having babies is a painful event there is no getting around that so why put off the pain relief. I understand that it can slow labor but so can pain so severe that you cant calm down and focus. :wink2:

I had drug-free, epidural-free births four times. Each experience was very different. But what gets me is that people start listing the reasons that my births were easy and their births were so hard so of course they had to choose epidural.
The reason I had epidural-free births is because I chose to. Period.
Altalorraine
P.S. It is possible to have an epidural-free birth even with pitocin.

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 15, 2006

Gompers, I would consider employing the services of a doula. Unless you have a lot of staff at your hospital who know how to care for naturally-laboring women (and staffing numbers even allow it), you may be disappointed---often many places, nurses are expected to care for more than one laboring woman at once, which really stinks for those women.

Also, make sure your support people are educated in natural labor, and are totally on-board, as well.

MD1211 · Oct 18, 2006

This is another thing I didn't realize was as common as it is-people who want to feel zip in the way of pain. granted, most women who want epidurals do say that they want to wait until the pain is unbearable, or at least hurts somewhat.
I've had a few now that wanted the epidural BEFORE they had any pain, so they wouldn't have any pain at all. Had a pit induction today. her family was encouraging her to get the epidural before we started the pit. she wanted it asap. So technically, she wasn't even really laboring.
here the doc has to give the okay for the epidural. (female)resident says she's not in any pain, i think she should wait. i was trying to get an answer from her as to when she could get it. (ps-pt is 41 weeks, g1, 2cm). she then told me to ask the other resident b/c she didnt know.
so i asked the (male) resident and the (male) attending. they said go for it, but be more aggressive with her pit. actually, the male attending said "if i was going to get pit, i'd want an epidural. if i was in labor, i'd want one asap".
so, are women allowed to get their epidurals as soon as they want them, even if not in pain? or do htey have a centimeter amount they have to get to first?
(my personal opinion is that they should be able to have it whenever they want it, if there is no medical reason to wait. of course, i also make sure they know that though it won't hurt, you can't eliminate the pressure. )

I don't work in OB... but personally, with my daughter, 0730: started IV, hung pitocin, 0800- anesthesiologist came in to start my epidural. Felt no pain until the epidural was dc'd. It was wonderful. The extent of my labor pains was "pressure" Pushed 5 times. Lasted about 7 minutes. I was relaxed and couldn't imagine how it could go any better! I might have a fit if someone withheld the epi till I hit a "goal." Why not make a woman the most comfortable as possible??

Jo Dirt · Oct 18, 2006

I sure was thankful for my epidural. And thankful I didn't wait until the pain was unbearable. When it gets to that point the epidural may not do as much good.

BSNtobe2009 · Oct 18, 2006

I had a friend that had a baby and the doctor ordered the epidural line to be inserted, with no drip. (I'm not a nurse, so not sure of the exact term) That way, all they had to do was turn on the meds.

She really liked that concept because she had a baby previously with a different doctor and she said it was extremely difficult to take the epidural and then have a contraction to hit.

Out of curiosity, are there any cons to doing it this way?

DanaBabes · Oct 19, 2006

Hi all

I recently had a baby boy. Elective LSUSC. As I have an anaesthetic allergy the anaethetist and I discussed the pros and cons of both GA and epi. I decided on an epi and requested that a catheter be left in for epi topups for pain relief after the surgery. Well after 45mins in theatre of leaning on my support person while the anaesthetist repeatedly tried placing the epi, electric shocks shooting down my left leg (which was also jumping with each attempt) I was sobbing and begging to be knocked out. (actually I started off joking about how I wanted to go home, I'll come back and have the baby another day, thankyou very much!) .. in the end I had a spinal block, and a well positioned catheter for afterwards. Surgery finally began and I became fascinated with wanting to see what was going on and much to my disappointment the anesthetist kept pulling the screen back up so I didnt get to see, but he reported on everything going on (I was trying to see the surgery by reflection in the theatre lights when he reported to me that there was now a head on my tummy - fascinating! but wasnt able to).

My son arrived..poor muscle tone and no respiratory effort, after rescus followed by cpap for 20mins he perked up and was shown to me, what an angel. Though I was wracked with guilt and wondering if the spinal block caused him to be non responsive. By the time I was stapled back together, he was well enough to come to post-op with me. So all turned out well.

We don't have epi's via an auto pump drip in Australia. Manual top-ups with 2 nurses present to administer the drugs. My drugs werent on the ward as they had to be specially ordered from pharmacy (drug allergy as mentioned), so although I didnt labour to have him, I returned to the ward with an oxy (synotocin) IV to contract my uterus & stimulate breastmilk production. I wasnt told about how I'd be having oxy. I couldnt understand how I could be in labour after a caesar. I can't even describe how bad that pain was, there are just no words for it, and my poor other children who'd come to visit mommy and their new brother were just as distressed as I was. (It took an hour and a half - after I started mentioning I was in pain - for the drugs to come up to the ward. Awful.)

My first baby was an emergency caesar, so GA. My 2nd baby was a natural labour (went horribly wrong tho, and she was stillborn at 40wks - and on her due date) after she died I was given morphine. I felt every long contraction and passed out from the pain, would wake long enough to start feeling another contraction, and then pass out again, however I didnt have enough control over my body to tell the midwife that the morphine was messing up my head but not doing anything for the pain, I wish I'd been offered an epi. So as I have a proven history of placental abruption near term, I then had my next 2 babies induced with synotocin ..very painful very early on. Thank goodness for epi's.

I now live in rural western australia where there is a doctor and ambulance available but only during working hours, and only Mon-Fri. As we all know babies arent that reliable at making an enterance during those hours, and I sure didnt want to be out here delivering the baby myself, which is why I had a booked caesar. (Yes, I could have had an induction, and lady partsl delivery, I chose not to, as I didnt want to risk placental abruption again.)

I didnt want this to sound like the typical "horror story". Yes I chose a caesar for convenience. I'm glad I did. Yes I've chosen to have epidurals. I'm glad I did. Would I have more children? Yes. I havent been put off by what I've been through, as long as you end up taking home a baby.

For those women who are able to labour naturally and drug free I salute you, and envy you. I just couldnt do it. On the other hand I dont think we should look down on women who choose pain relief either. After all, isnt the whole point of being pregnant to end up with a baby? As long as the baby arrives safely, I'm of the opinion that it shouldnt matter whether or not a woman should have pain relief and when, if she asks for it, then do what you can to try to get it for her.

Oh and for the person who asked: yes, you're in pain after the caesar, quite severe for the first few days (and you know when you're doing something your body isnt ready to do, like I tried to chase a goat when my son was 2 weeks old - didnt happen lol), but you have a baby to tend to so you just seem focus your energy on the baby and not on your own body. You just have to get on with things :)

well thats my 2 cents worth

Hugz

Dana

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