Ok, so we've all heard the horror stories of bad outcomes from epidurals, and the fact that "natural" childbirth is much healthier for mom and baby has probably been drilled into every nurse (maybe not, but this has been my experience). Then there are those occassions when an epidural is a necessity.
So, I'm just curious: what is your personal opinion of epidurals? Whether you work with laboring moms, or have had a baby yourself, or both. What are some personal opinions about and experiences with epidurals...
When I was pregnant, the first time, with a incredibly low-risk pregnancy, I was just completely PANICKED about the whole thing, and desperate for medical handholding. More tests please! Heh heh. With the second I was way more relaxed.
When I was pregnant, the first time, with a incredibly low-risk pregnancy, I was just completely PANICKED about the whole thing, and desperate for medical handholding. More tests please! Heh heh. With the second I was way more relaxed.
For some reason, I was the opposite. As a NICU nurse, I had some worries about #1 but then with #2 I was completely freaked! We had a lot of full term birth asphyxia kiddos and undiagnosed CHD's when I was newly PG. I guess I figured I'd gotten away with one perfectly healthy child, I was pushing my luck to keep going! Kinda sad eh?
Gompers, I salute your desire for NCB. I too wanted one for my first but didn't really do anything to prepare for it. After contracting all night, my water breaking with zip, zilch, zero cervical change, I got pit. 8 hours of pit contractions and 2 cm later, I said Epishizzle me! I was an epi convert. Oh, I did try all the natural pain relief stuff too (that's what got me through the 8 hours)
I've heard good things about Hypnobabies. You might want to give that a look see. Good luck! Motherhood rocks! (read, sleep, go to restaurants/movies while you still can!!!)
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Don't lose focus; labor and birth are powerful experiences. But they are really dwarfed by the experience of parenting that goes on the rest of your life. Believe me. Keep an open mind. This is your first real lesson in parenting; few things go exactly as planned, no matter how prepared you may seem to be! This is never more true than it is in parenting children. Life throws so many curve balls at you!
I guess I'm not w/ the majority. My first was induced and I had an epidural. Like most, I felt everything except the pain (8 hr labor). My second was also induced but I decided to try and see how far I could go w/ out the epidural; I lasted 5 1/2 hrs and I said screw this I was only 6cm and couldn't imagine the pain getting worse, but by the time the anest. team came up 1/2 hr later, I was pushing the baby out (I dilated 4cm and completely delivered in 38 mins!)
For the next one? I would do it natural. Nothing against the epidural but it was awsome to do it without now that I know what to expect.
My personal opinion, since that's what the op asked: Epidurals are a gift from God! Right along with that lil' bundle of joy. As a nurse I would respect any woman's personal choice for handling her labor, but having done it with and without an epidural, I would definitely prefer "with".
My joke during my second preganancy, after suffering a horrific "natural" birth with my first, was that I was going into the hospital with EPIDURAL in permanent red marker on my forehead!
It made the difference between joy and a nightmare.
If the epidural drugs didn't enter the moms bloodstream then the effects of the epidural would be permanent. think about it. It has to be processed out your kidneys/liver, therefore they reach the baby too.
Gomp, if you want natural cb. prepare for it. make a plan and get some caregivers that believe in you/it!!!
If the epidural drugs didn't enter the moms bloodstream then the effects of the epidural would be permanent. think about it. It has to be processed out your kidneys/liver, therefore they reach the baby too.
Gomp, if you want natural cb. prepare for it. make a plan and get some caregivers that believe in you/it!!!
From some random website:
"Some epidural medication does reach the baby, but it's much less than what the little one would get if the mother is given pain medications through an IV or if she is given general anesthesia. The risks of an epidural to the baby are minimal, but include possible distress (such as a slow heartbeat) caused by the mother's lowered blood pressure."
I am a big advocate of natural childbirth. I only wanted to point out that some women who want to go without an epidural so that the baby won't get medication and then get IV meds during "natural" may actually be medicating their babies more.
What I think is ironic is how some women refuse to take even a Tylenol at any point in their pregnancy but are happy to be flooded with drugs during birth.
I have had three children starting at a young age. With all 3 I was on medicaid and was never offered the option of an epidural. I am one of those women who remembers that there was pain, but can't for the life of me remember how bad it was. You know, the ones that all the grandmas out there mean when they say, "Yes, it hurts, but you forget how bad it was after a time."
That being said, I am now 39 and 7 weeks pregnant. Until I started reading this thread I wasn't aware of the push for laboring moms to have an epidural. Being a nurse, albeit not an OB nurse, I am scared of all the stories I have heard about what can go wrong. Thanks to gasspasser for the links, you can be assured I will be reading them.
I plan to do this without any medications, but I also reserve the right to change my mind at a later date.
I Had All My Children Naturally, But With 2 Of Them I Do Remembering I Would Like To Have Changed My Mind, But Alas It Was Too Late. I Mainly Did It Because I Wanted To Be In Control After Delivery. I Work With Pp Moms And Ther Are 2 Mjr Complaints. Back Pain That Is Sometimes Worse Than Their Cramping And 2nd Is The Itching.
So, thus far the opinions seems split almost evenly. I understand the point that epidurals can make the pain of labor tolerable and the experience more enjoyable.
But I also can't help but think about the millions of women who've squatted in a field or hut alone and endured labor pains with no help from any drug or person (just finished reading the Good Earth), and I wonder, "is it the fact that we know that we do not have to endure any pain during labor what makes the pain itself unbearable?" Because, clearly, unmedicated labor pain is tolerable if there are no options.
I also wonder, "what makes the experience of labor pain so empowering?" Is it the fact that it denies the modern concept that pregnancy and labor are medical conditions? Rather they are natural and not requiring "medical" intervention.
I think you have hit the nail on the head, so to speak, about why women find the pain of labor unbearable. When I started out in L&D at a small rural hosptial 18 years ago epidurals were not an option. I taught child birth classes and my students practiced their relaxation and breathing techniques in class. They made it through L&D without drugs and it was an awesome experience for them and for me. It was also a lot of work for them and for me. Patients knew they had no choice but to "get through" the pain with only narcotics for pain relief because that was the only option and they managed.
When I moved to a hospital where epidurals were available I HATED them. The nurses that worked there thought everyone should have an epidural and I didn't understand why, until, I realized that it made the nurses job easier. Once the epidural was in and the patient was pain free the nurse was no longer tied to the bedside with the patient. Another advantage of epidurals for doctors and nurses was the decrease in preciptious deliveries by the nurse. With an epidural the delivery could be delayed until the doctor arrived since that strong urge to push was missing.
I mellowed over the years and now know that my opinion should stay just that, MY opinion. We should all strive to make childbirth a wonderful experience for the family, no matter how it occurs. My opinion of Epidurals has also changed over the years with the decrease in complications that I have seen with them. I tend to agree with one of the doctors I worked with, he said, "pain doesn't make you a better mother". I support what ever my patient wants. Now I see the benefits of epidurals as well as the possible complications.
"Some epidural medication does reach the baby, but it's much less than what the little one would get if the mother is given pain medications through an IV or if she is given general anesthesia. The risks of an epidural to the baby are minimal, but include possible distress (such as a slow heartbeat) caused by the mother's lowered blood pressure."
I am a big advocate of natural childbirth. I only wanted to point out that some women who want to go without an epidural so that the baby won't get medication and then get IV meds during "natural" may actually be medicating their babies more.
What I think is ironic is how some women refuse to take even a Tylenol at any point in their pregnancy but are happy to be flooded with drugs during birth.
That is true about the iv narcs. But the fact is, we have used iv narcs for centuries and can use it safely. Epidurals are safe in general, but when something does go wrong (i.e. intravascular injection) you have a seizure situation, which of course gives everyone a very bad day. Meningitis occurs infrequently, but when it does, it can have serious long-term consequences. And there's the problem of anesthesia personnel in some hospitals that have to work the next day after being up all night for something that is usually not a medically indicated procedure , and they're very tired the next day when having to care for genuinely ill patients. Ladies on pit. drips? I agree that these ladies NEED and epidural. The more important question is do they really need the PITOCIN? That's another critical issue in this day and age when we want everything to be comvenient - including birthing times. I don't think that insurance companies should pay for epidurals that are not medically indicated because we're ALL paying for this - they do not come cheaply! And birthing should be returned to a natural process with stand-by safety precautions. The large majority of births should be attended by mid-wives, not OB-GYNs who don't have the patience to hand hold a women who refused to educate herself about the process but relied on the system to make delivery as inconvenient as a tooth cleaning.
"Some epidural medication does reach the baby, but it's much less than what the little one would get if the mother is given pain medications through an IV or if she is given general anesthesia. The risks of an epidural to the baby are minimal, but include possible distress (such as a slow heartbeat) caused by the mother's lowered blood pressure."
I am a big advocate of natural childbirth. I only wanted to point out that some women who want to go without an epidural so that the baby won't get medication and then get IV meds during "natural" may actually be medicating their babies more.
What I think is ironic is how some women refuse to take even a Tylenol at any point in their pregnancy but are happy to be flooded with drugs during birth.
That is true about the iv narcs. But the fact is, we have used iv narcs for centuries and can use it safely. Epidurals are safe in general, but when something does go wrong (i.e. intravascular injection) you have a seizure situation, which of course gives everyone a very bad day. Meningitis occurs infrequently, but when it does, it can have serious long-term consequences. And there's the problem of anesthesia personnel in some hospitals that have to work the next day after being up all night for something that is usually not a medically indicated procedure , and they're very tired the next day when having to care for genuinely ill patients. Ladies on pit. drips? I agree that these ladies NEED an epidural. The more important question is do they really need the PITOCIN? That's another critical issue in this day and age when we want everything to be comvenient - including birthing times. I don't think that insurance companies should pay for epidurals that are not medically indicated because we're ALL paying for this - they do not come cheaply! And birthing should be returned to a natural process with stand-by safety precautions. The large majority of births should be attended by mid-wives, not OB-GYNs who don't have the patience to hand hold a women who refused to educate herself about the process but relied on the system to make delivery as inconvenient as a tooth cleaning.
firstyearstudent
853 Posts
When I was pregnant, the first time, with a incredibly low-risk pregnancy, I was just completely PANICKED about the whole thing, and desperate for medical handholding. More tests please! Heh heh. With the second I was way more relaxed.