Does having an epidural really hurt? I'm so nervous about getting a needle in my spine!?

Question

I mean if all goes well and I don't need to have one, I think I'd rather bare the pain of child birth. What are your thoughts and your experiences having an epidural? Thanks :)

I didn't expect so many answers! Thanks guys! And yes I'm reading each and one.

Answer 1

I had an epidural when I had my daughter and it was absolutely fantastic. In fact, I came out of the delivery suite saying I'll have a football team if it's like that!' I never felt a single, solitary pain and I would recommend it to anyone. I wanted the same thing with my son, and found out after I had given birth to him in an awful, animalistic, extremely painful way that the nurse in charge 'likes to give everyone the chance to have a natural birth'. This still gets me upset to this day - fifteen years later. That I wasn't given the 'choice'. Natural childbirth is not for everyone. All this cr*p about it being 'empowering' and 'the good ol' way'. What an absolute load of horse sh*t. Why put yourself through that and say you feel 'proud'. Of what?! That you allowed yourself to be put through the most awful thing ever without relief!? It wasn't for me, but I had no choice and it took me months to bond with my son. I could have left him on a rubbish tip and would not have been bothered.

I now love him to pieces of course!

Get that epidural and don't take ANY sh*t. They kept telling me that the anaethetist was coming. He didn't. And then they were telling me that it was too late to have one. It wasn't.

Don't take no for an answer! Mine was excellent. I would have loved a bigger family - I come from one myself, but this woman scared me so badly that I couldn't face it again.

If I knew who she was, I would sue. She killed some part of me. That's my experience of both options presented!

Answer 2

Wow what a lot of answers i wonder if anyone will bother reading mine! My experience of childbirth with epidural is that i wish i hadnt had an epidural. Everyone is different every birth is different have an open mind and dont be disappointed if the experience is not what you wanted it to be. You should be aware that 10% of women do not experience full pain relief with epidural (i was one of them) My baby was in distress so i couldnt have the waterbirth i had wanted but my plan was if i couldnt have a waterbirth then id have a painfree birth instead so i asked for epidural as soon as they told me i couldnt get in the water i didnt actually need the epidural at this point and could handle the pain, however although the needle in the spine was nothing the side effects from it were horrible, i didnt understand quite how restricted i would be i was flat on my back legs unable to move hooked up to loads of wires on a drip etc etc i couldnt feel my legs but i could feel every contraction and was convinced i was about to die! (first baby!) the drugs made me shake uncontrollably my blood pressure kept plummeting and it was a horrible scary experience made worse by the fact that the baby was in distress and everyone looked very worried, i had to have oxygen and gas and air and they turned me on my side to try to get the drugs to flow more evenly (or something) to give me more pain relief it did not work but in the end when they had to force the baby out i couldnt feel the contractions but i could feel them pulling the baby out and it was agony dont let anyone tell you any different! They tried ventouse that didnt work so in the end they used forceps which was horrible luckily my son was fine except for a bruise from forceps and suction marks from the failed ventouse i was literally black n blue and could barely walk and was not normal (down there) for a good few months i know that my birth was difficult and not normal but maybe if i had not had the epidural i would not have needed the forceps and would not have been in such pain for so long afterwards i had to have physio! Sorry if this scares you to death but i just wanted you to know that epidural isnt always the answer. I didnt suffer any headaches or stuff like that but do get back ache although i would not put that down to epidural more like being pregnant for 9 months puts strain on your back! I know lots of people have epidurals and think they are marvellous but you never can tell how your body will react. I actually had nightmares about the birth for a while but that was probably more to do with the anxiety and hormones. Personally i would never have an epidural, when i had my second baby 5 years later (it cant have been that bad then!) luckily there were no complications i had the waterbirth that i wanted and although it was horrendously painful i managed just on gas and air and it was a much much better experience. Just see how you go and dont have a birthplan set in stone, and if you expect the worst it can only be better than you expect! Do what feels right at the time they do mobile epidurals now, if your hospital can do this for you this would be a better option than the normal epidural as you can move about and hopefully you will be one of the 90% that get full pain relief. good luck

Answer 3

For myself, I was having extremely painful contractions- they gave me pitocin, making contractions way harder to progress my labor... so I had to get an epidural even though I went into it not wanting one. Let me say, the contractions were so painful the epidural was a breeze! Now... I was in heaven for the first 15 hrs after having the epidural... but then all of a sudden, the epidural wore off entirely.... when I was almost fully dilated. My baby just wasn't descending... and after 4 hrs of not having it (worst pains of my life!!! and me crying soooo hard), they took me c-section. My spinal epidural didn't take for the c-section-i felt them poking my belly when testing it. So they put me under. If I did this again, I'd get the epidural if it were just as painful - I'd do it all over again in a heart beat. I was laughing with my dad when I had the epidural- still felt contractions a bit, but I could lay there more comfortably.

Just go into it thinking you won't get one... try to cope with the pain of the contractions breathing through them, and if it's too much, get one. You'll know when you need one. And don't feel bad about getting one either- i did for some reason. They are professionals, so they should do a good job on it... and it really does help when you are in so much pain! And who knows, you might be able to do just fine without one... but if you need one, go for it! It really does help!

Goodluck and congrats :)

Answer 4

It stings, but it's not that bad. By the time that it's offered to you, you're not going to care. Seriously.

Some women just don't have the guts to do it naturally. I didn't. Having an epidural, though, doesn't make you any less of a woman.

It's not bad. After it's done, you may even get to sleep a little before the pushing starts, because it will kill most, if not all, of the pain.

Answer 5

Well, when I had mine with my son I didn't have a great experience. It took the dr about 45 minutes to get it in. I'm not even sure what the problem was but he couldn't quite get it. He tried in a couple of different spots and at one point I felt like someone was pouring warm water down my back...yea i was bleeding all over. Then the stupid thing only lasted an hour!! That hour was great though. It was so nice to get to relax and feel normal. I didn't think getting the actual epidural hurt. It stung a little when they gave me the meds to numb me. Just sitting the way you have to sit and such was uncomfortable and with contractions and all, well I was ready to tell him to stop and give up. I'm actually going in tomorrow to have my water broken and well, I'm debating whether or not I want to try an epidural again. I'll see how I am tomorrow. I mean I managed to get through it all before (except that one hour) but like I said that one hour was great! I'm sure the amount of people who have problems with it are minimal as well. Try not to worry about it. Best of luck!

Answer 6

I spent 14 hours in hard back labor before they decided to give me an emergency csection...I don't remember the needle...I sure as hell remember the 14 hours of contractions... (So that tells me that the labor was more intense than the epi)

I wish I'd been able to have a regular birth I went through 14 hours with no pain meds and I'd do it again tomorrow...

But I had a giant baby and he was facing the wrong direction...so I didn't really have a choice in the end...they had to cut me open so I had to have an epi.

Anyway in my personal experience...the needle in the back...was nothing.

Answer 7

By the time you need an epidural, you'll be too distracted by the pain you need it for to pay much attention to the shot. I don't even remember the sensation of the epidural itself, only the labor pains.

Out of my four childbirths, only one required an epidural. The others were tolerable. You may have a very good experience. And don't worry about the epi, it'll be fine.

Answer 8

I am also anticipating my first epidural in the next few weeks, but the needle is the least of my concerns. You need to start preparing yourself to deal with pain. Even with an epidural, it is likely that you will have to go through hours of painful contractions before they give it to you. The pain doesn't stop after delivery, either. Healing will be painful. It is important to make sure that you have realistic expectations- and it is not realistic to think that the pain of the epidural needle will be your biggest concern (or the worst pain.) Good luck, I know that I will need it, too!

Answer 9

The epidural didn't really hurt although labor was pretty intense. By the time I got the epidural in there wasn't enough time to inject the medicine. So I would have to say try to go without it. The regular shots of pain meds that are in syringes work great.

Answer 10

I really could not take the pain of labor.. so I had an epidural. I am telling you that it was the best thing. I was letting anyone who walked in the room.. Hey I had an epidural.. this is soo much easier. Had alot of the nursing staff laughing at me. I wanted to try to go as long as possible without one.. but after getting it.. I did not even know I was having contractions. It is a scary decision.. trust me. But being in pain can make this experience less rememberable. Good Luck... congrats!!