What are your views on pain relief during labour?

Question

Do you believe that is best to labour without pain relief as much as possible? Or do you think pain relief is a wonderful thing and should be taken advantage of?
What are the reasons for your views?
Also if you have had 2 births, one with pain relief and one without, which one did you feel was better?

I am 16 weks pregnant with second child.

Answer 1

I think it's wonderful that it is available, but for the most part, pharmaceutical pain relief is overused in labor.

Too many women never consider any other option or prepare to make a serious effort to go unmedicated. I get sick of the "hook me up to the epidural in the parking lot" attitude. With preparation, education and support, it can be done.

I'd like to see more mothers making a serious try to go without instead of making the decision that they want drugs before they've even felt one contraction. I mean really, do you take pain relievers for a headache BEFORE you have a headache?

To stress what Mystic said, "fear is the #1 cause of pain during labor." How true! Again.....education, preparation and support are key! Read the book "Birthing From Within" by Pam England.

I had three unmedicated births, one "land birth" in a hospital with a doc, one waterbirth in a freestanding birth center with a midwife and one home waterbirth with a midwife. If I could do it all over again, they would all three be home waterbirths with midwives. The warm water is truely a HUGE help. Some women refer to it as "an aqua-dural" because the pain relief from the tub is that effective.

Answer 2

Whilst I was pregnant, I really wanted to see how far into my labour I could go before I required pain medication. I had opted for a water birth, with the use of a TENS machine prior to getting in.

But I developed pre-eclampsia and had to be induced and the induction triggered a very hard and fast labour - when I was only one cm dilated, I was having 30 second long contractions every two minues. It was pretty horrifying to be faced with 10 hours or so of that! Although the pre-eclampsia meant that I wasn't allowed to have a water birth, my birthing room had it's own bathroom with a bath and the midwife said that I could have a supervised warm bath. I was really astonished how quickly the pain disappeared whilst I was in the bath! I did that for a while and then I was offered pethidine to help me sleep as I wasn't dilating at all. The pethidine didn't work and my blood pressure was still climbing, so the hospital suggested an epidural for both pain relief and to lower my blood pressure. I felt great afterwards and even managed to get some sleep! It did the trick as well with my blood pressure, which significantly reduced my risk of requiring an emergency c-section. I let the epidural wear off so I could push, which was great for actually being able to take back some of the control for my labour.

I know some people that are "disappointed" with themselves for "giving" in and having pain relief during birth. I did have a vision of a pain-relief free birth but ended up trying everything in the book - except for the TENS machine which never left the packet! I suppose circumstances changed it all for me - if I hadn't been induced, would I have had such a bad labour? If I hadn't had pre-eclampsia, would a water birth have made all the difference to my requirement for pain relief? I don't know but it has taught me that all you can hope for is that both you and your baby come out the other side of labour happy, healthy and with no lasting damage, so just go with the flow.

Answer 3

I believe it is up to the woman. But I would say you should at least try to go some of the labour without pain relief to see what your threshold is. I have heard so many expectant women say they are having an epidural before they are even in labour! I have had two children and used gas and air and then at the end stage had a diamorphine injection. That type of pain relief is quite gentle, it takes the edge of the pain but doesn't make it go. My second birth was far more painful than my first (I had a girl first time and a boy second so maybe that's the reason!!). I would like a third at some point and will try not to have any pain relief as I know it can be done. Centuries ago women did it without the luxuries we are lucky enough to have today and my pain threshold is pretty high. But all in all it's is up to the individual as childbirth is painful no matter what anyone says!

Answer 4

i have had 2 children, with both i was induced, with both the contractions started and my babies were born within 3 hours. Being induced apparently it makes labour pains more severe and rapidly increases the delivery time. I had no pain relief having my children, but, having said that i think it is very much an individuals choice. There is no right or wrong answer, you do what you have to do to get through. Some people have a very high pain threshold, some people use mental focus, and some people need as much pain relief as possible. You aren't a machine you are a person.
My only suggestion is that you are open minded and if you need pain relief you take it and never feel guilty for it. At the end of the day, you need to have the baby when the time comes, you want the baby to be delivered safely and healthily. You do what ever it takes, i suggest you follow the advice of your healthcare professional, do what you have to do and enjoy your new baby, why does it matter if you need pain relief to do that. The baby doesn't care, they just want out and you do what you have to do to get him/her there.
Good luck, and enjoy your pregnancy and new baby when he/she gets here

Answer 5

i have 4 girls, 2 labours i had pain relief and 2 without!!
the 2 labours without were very quick (2 hours and 4 hours) so it really wasn't that bad! My 1st labour i had epidural which helped immensely because it was dragging on a bit! with my 4th labour after about 6 hours i opted for an epidural, and it only affected one side of my body (the pain then feels 10 times worse because your numb on one side and not on the other!!), there were alot of complications with the baby nearer the end and the pain was so bad because the epidural didn't work properly!!
Myself and my 2 daughters who i didn't have any pain relief with seemed to recover quicker and fed better!
But My opinion is Each To There Own!! if someone isn't coping with the pain, then pain relief might seem the only way out, especially if the person is getting really stressed which i am sure wont help the baby!!

Answer 6

My first child I had an epidural, it was some years ago they used to give you quite alot, to the poit where you couldnt feel your legs, which was a scary feeling, even at the end you couldnt feel yourself pushing and couldnt walk for quite a while afterwards, wasnt very pleasant, but obviously there was no pain atall. My second which was 7 years later, my midwife told me that they dont give you anywhere near as much through the epidural, I got to nearly 9 cm but baby was huge and pain excruciating so had an epidural, i could still feel the contractions it just seemed to take the edge off them, icould feel when i needed to push and could walk around straight after, probably the best birth I have had. My third was by far the worst, was induced took me all day to reach 5 cm then i did the next 5 in less than 6 mins :( no time for epidural, no time for gas an air even..no time to breath. And no i didnt feel any better for having a natural pain relief free birth! Im now pregnant again and will be there as soon as my first pain hits..asking for an epidual :)))

Answer 7

hi there im really curious to know if you are expecting a baby ......as if you did you wouldnt be asking this question ......ive had 3 girls and to where both with pain relief through the best bit of the birth ,but on the middle one i was given pain relief and she decided not to wait til it kicked in and made her entry very quickly and fast .....after she was born it was great i had no pain what so ever ......every birth is different and so is every womans experience but all i can add is that this is the quickest pain that you will forget till you go back and start labour for the 2nd time .......if a woman needs some relief like what i did there is nothing wrong with this ......you are the one going through this and if it was a man well there wouldnt be many families with 2 or more kids .....take care xx

Answer 8

My views on pain releif are to do what you feel is right. However, I don't think that women should go into labor thinking, "I'm having an epidural the minute I start labor." That's fine if they want an epidural to relieve unbearable pain, but they should first wait to see how far they can get...and see if it's necessary. I had an epidural and I knew I would if the pain got too bad, but I wanted to see how long I could go. I wish I would have done it naturally. I dind't have a problem with my epidural, but natural childbirth is something I'd like to experience at least once (I know it sounds crazy to some). I think I MIGHT have been able to have my daughter naturally had I been able to rest some....

I woke up at 7 AM after a full week of working 8-5 (I live so far away that I had to get up at 5:30 on the weekdays to get to work at 8.) I was already 5 days late and I was still running around to a Chemistry lab that was due. I went to the lab and I got home. Around 4 PM I went into labor and labored all night without sleeping a wink b/c the contractions were so strong and fairly close together. I FINALLY opted for an epidural at 10 AM the next morning....18 hours into labor because I couldn't take it anymore. I had my daughter at 4 PM the following day!

So had I been able to get rest and had I not been awake for well over 24 hours, I would have tried harder to go natural. After 18 hours of labor and 27 hours of being awake, I had nothing left in me...except a baby! :)

Those are my views, but it's a personal decision for everyone!

Answer 9

The minimal someone can bear the better. No need for pethadine and a dopey baby if someone could have managed with a TENS machine. We all have different labours and pain thresholds so it's difficult to specify. If a mother needs drugs and would be in a lot of pain or distress during and after labour then that'll affect the baby, so she should have what she needs but childbirth hurts whatever, and some pain is to be expected. From personal experience with just a TENS labour is manageable if it is short as you just go to a different place mentally and block out the pain and the baby is all alert and happy afterwards.

Answer 10

Well I've had two births - my first I had pethadine and gas, I didn't really feel the pethadine took the pain away although it did make me feel quite groggy - the birth was OK.
My second I was induced so the pains started straight away - there was no build up and in medical terms although my pains started in the morning I wasn't "officially" in labour until well into the afternoon and all I had was paracetamol. According to the hospital records I was only in labour for 20 minutes there was no time for any pain relief and birth with just gas ... thinking about it now I think I coped quite well without the grogginess - I never thought in a million years I would cope without drugs/pain relief but its really not that bad, no numbness, no grogginess just blady tired! but then some woman have a higher pain threshold than others ....

Answer 11

I went for as long as possible without pain relief but as the labour dragged on for over 24 hours I physically couldnt take any more and they had to give me pain relief. I believe we shouldnt have to go through all the pain if we dont want to. We have already done the hard work of carrying the baby for 9 months and looking after it and then we have the rest of their lives to care for it. Why not have some pain relief to make the experience a little more enjoyable.