what types of pain relief are available during labor?
Posted By Admin on December 29, 2011
I would like to go without an epidural and was wondering what are options for pain relief during labor? the pro’s and con’s of each? what did each of you use? how was your experience?
Chosen Answer:
Go with the epidural… Its great! I seriously didnt feel anything during delivery. Good luck!
by: christy
on: 19th January 11
You can do:
Natural
Pain meds such as stadol or fentinahl (they really only take the edge off, and didn’t reduce the pain enough for me)
Epidural (my personal favorite)
Not sure if some still would do a spinal (similar to epidural but you can’t feel anything) I know they still use them if you are having a c-section
You should really take a good childbirth class, they go over all of this in detail.
I did not want to use an epidural either (but did anyway, it is that painful). You can ask for narcotics, they take the edge off for awhile, I also used the birthing tub and showered, those were great until the pains got un-bearable. There are other physical movements, like lifting your stomach during a contraction, walking around etc. that help. I caved after about 3 hours of labor pains, they are horrible, the epidural allowed me to sleep and rest before the birth. I
Where do you live?
In the U.S. your options are usually a variety of ‘natural’ methods (Lamaze, Bradley, water birth, etc.) or, if you want medication, either IV narcotics (different hospitals use different ones) or an epidural.
Natural methods are obviously safest, but require some advanced preparation.
If you want/need meds, then an epidural is usually your best option. Narcotics can only be given fairly early in labor (so when your in the most pain, you can’t have them — if given too close to the birth, baby can be born sleepy and with breathing problems), and just ‘take the edge off.’ In a very long labor a shot of Stadol may allow you to get some much needed rest, but it’s not going to cover your whole labor.
There is a LOT of information available on this topic. Try a childbirth class or reading a few good pregnancy books.
I had a epidural & it had no side effects on me or the baby & it reduced ALL pain =)
They do offer other medications through the i.v. that I did not get but I’ve heard those are not as effective & don’t reduce much pain.
My advice is to get the epidural and as early as possible. Yes, it slows down labor, but if you want to avoid a c-section, I think it’s important. Labor is an exhausting process. Even with the epidural, I almost ended up with a c-section because I went into labor exhausted from all the walking I did. I labored naturally with pitocin (went from no contractions to 1-2 mins apart) for 1/3 of my labor and that’s another reason I almost ended up with a c-section. My body had just about had it by the time I got the baby out, and it made it hell that night to take care of her and figure out breastfeeding on top of that.
Remember, people demonize epidurals, but over 90% of women get them because guess what? Childbirth is painful, no matter what the granola-crunchers want you to believe.
Go with the epidural… Its great! I seriously didnt feel anything during delivery. Good luck!