information on epidurals?

Question

i'm planning on having an epidural when i have my baby, i just wanted some infomation on it as i really don't know alot about it, does it compleatly block all pain? and at what stage of labour do you have it? how long does it last? thanks.

i had a natural birth with my first child, the doctor that was suppost to do the epidural was called away in a emergancy, i will NEVER has a natural birth again!

Answer 1

How does an epidural work?
An epidural delivers continuous pain relief to the lower part of your body while allowing you to remain fully conscious. Medication is delivered through a catheter, a very thin, flexible, hollow tube that's inserted into the epidural space just outside the membrane that surrounds your spine.

To allow the catheter to be inserted, you lie curled on your side or sit on the edge of the bed while an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist cleans your back, injects the area with numbing medicine, and carefully guides a needle into your lower back. (This may sound painful, but for most women, it's not.) She then passes a catheter through it, withdraws the needle, and tapes the catheter in place so medication can be administered through it as needed. You can lie down at this point without disturbing the catheter.

First you're given a small "test dose" of medicine to be sure the epidural was placed correctly, followed by a full dose if there are no problems. Your baby's heart rate is monitored continuously, and your blood pressure is taken every five minutes or so for a while after the epidural is in to make sure it isn't having any negative effects.

The medication delivered by the epidural is usually a combination of a local anesthetic and a narcotic. Local anesthetics block sensations of pain, touch, movement, and temperature, and narcotics blunt pain without affecting your ability to move your legs. Used together, they provide good pain relief with less loss of sensation in your legs and at a lower total dose than you'd need with just one or the other.

What are the advantages to having an epidural for pain relief during labor?

• An epidural provides a route for very effective pain relief that can be used throughout your labor.

• The anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist can control the effects by adjusting the type, amount, and strength of the medication. This is important, because as your labor progresses and your baby moves farther down into your birth canal, the dose you've been getting might no longer cover the pain, or you might suddenly have pain in a different area.

• Since the effect of the medication is localized, you'll be awake and alert during labor and birth. And, because you're pain-free, you can rest if you want (or even sleep!) as your cervix dilates. As a result, you may have more energy when it comes time to push.

• Unlike with systemic narcotics, only a tiny amount of medication reaches your baby.

• Once the epidural's in place, it can be used to provide anesthesia if you need a c-section or if you're having your tubes tied after delivery.

What are the disadvantages?

• You have to stay in an awkward position for ten to 15 minutes while the epidural is put in, and then wait another five to 20 minutes before the medication takes full effect. This may seem like a minor inconvenience, though, when the tradeoff is hours of pain relief.

• Depending on the type and amount of medication you're getting, you may lose some sensation in your legs and be unable to stand. Sometimes, particularly in early labor, so little anesthetic is needed to make you comfortable that you have normal strength and sensation in your legs and can move around without difficulty. (This is called a "walking epidural.") Still, many practitioners and hospitals won't allow you to get out of bed once you've had an epidural, whether you think you can walk or not.

• An epidural requires that you have an IV, frequent blood-pressure monitoring, and continuous fetal monitoring.

• An epidural can slow your labor, in which case you may need Pitocin to get it back on track.

• An epidural often makes the pushing stage of labor longer. The loss of sensation in your lower body weakens your bearing-down reflex, which can make it harder for you to push your baby out. You may want to have the epidural dose lowered while you're pushing so you can participate more actively in your baby's delivery — but it may take time for the pain medication to wear off enough that you can feel what you're doing, and there's no evidence that reducing the epidural dose actually shortens this stage of labor

• Having an epidural makes it more likely that you'll have a vacuum extraction or forceps delivery, which in turn increases your risk for serious lacerations.

• In some cases, an epidural provides spotty pain relief. This can happen because of variations in anatomy from one woman to the next or if the medication doesn't manage to bathe all of your spinal nerves as it spreads through your epidural space. The catheter can also "drift" slightly, making pain relief spotty after starting out fine. (If you notice that you're starting to have pain in certain places, ask for the anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist to be paged so your dose can be adjusted or your catheter reinserted.)

• The drugs used in your epidural may temporarily lower your blood pressure, reducing blood flow to your baby, which in turn slows his heart rate. (This is treated with fluids and sometimes medication.)

• Narcotics delivered through an epidural can cause itchiness, particularly in your face. They may also bring on nausea — though this is less likely with an epidural than from systemic medication, and some women feel nauseated and throw up during labor even without pain medication.

• Anesthetics delivered through an epidural can make it more difficult to tell when you need to pee. Also, if you can't pee into a bedpan (which for many people is harder than letting go on a toilet), you may need to be catheterized.

• An epidural raises your risk of running a fever in labor. No one knows exactly why this happens, but one theory is that you pant and sweat less (because you're not in pain), so it's harder for your body to dissipate heat generated by labor. It doesn't boost your or your baby's odds of getting an infection — but since it's unclear at first whether the fever is from the epidural or from an infection, you and your baby could wind up getting unnecessary antibiotics.

• Epidurals are associated with a higher rate of babies in the posterior or "face-up" position at delivery. Women whose babies are face-up have longer labors, tend to need Pitocin more often, and have a significantly higher rater of c-sections. (There's controversy, though, over whether having an epidural actually contributes to babies ending up in this position or other factors are at work.)

• In one in 100 women, an epidural causes a bad headache that may last for days. (You can reduce the risk of headache by lying as still as possible while the needle is being placed.)

• In very rare cases, an epidural affects your breathing, and in extremely rare cases it causes nerve injury or infection.

Answer 2

well first off, it hurts like hell when they put it in, but at the point where you get it, you would prefer that pain to the other. Usually when you are a 4 or 5 and your water has broke. If you wait too long then you may miss your chance, but you want to wait awhile just so you can experience the labor. After your water breaks it gets hard and painful - the more you dilate the more it hurts. The epidural will last through childbirth and then they will turn the machine off which is what drips the epidural in your body. Then you will get feeling pretty quick and someone will come in and take it out for you. You will know when to push because you will feel pressure - it won't hurt, but you will feel pressure - it kinda sucks though because you don't know how hard you are pushing and you wear yourself out.
I will tell you - there is no way I would have ever done it without an epidural - and I have a high pain tolerance - I am very impressed with the women who do it natural.
Even though you go through this - when the baby is born and you see it and hold it for the first time - I can't even describe the feeling - it is the most wonderful experience you will ever go through. It makes it all worth it. Good luck!

for some reason I always shake and run fever with mine - but the shaking stops and then after the baby is born they give me tylenol for the fever. Not sure why it happens, but it did all 3 times.

Answer 3

Epidurals are great IF THEY WORK!!! They can now start them almost immediately and for most will eliminate most of th pain (though some sensation will remain). If you wait too long, they may refuse the epidural if you are to advanced in labor. All people react differenly to the medication....know your body. My advice is to be knowledgable when you arrive to deliver. If you feel something is not right, demand immediate assistance. My epidural became blocked early on. The machine kept beeping and the nurses simply turned it off. I could feel everything. By the time the blockage was found, I had to have a natural delivery and then a second epidural after the birth to sew up the mess. (My back still hurts 4 months later). It took a hard toll on my body and NATURAL BIRTH is EXTREMELY PAINFUL!!! GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 4

I had an epidual and it has good and bad points. I didn't feel any pain. I actually couldn't feel my legs at all. My mother had to lift one leg while my husband lifted the other. I liked it because there was no pain while I was delivering. However, I have had some back pains after giving birth. I don't know if it was from pregnancy or the epidural. The doctor has control over how long the epidural lasts, they can turn it off & on as needed. The epidural only numbs you, it does not go through your blood stream which is good beceause it won't affect the baby. (Anestesia runs through your blood and will put you & the baby to sleep.) I chose epidural because of all the options you have, this was the best one.

Answer 5

I had an epidural with my daughter, my firstborn and I thought it was the bees knees after 14 hours of contractions. I did.t really feel it going in and afterwards everything was pain free. The only thing is it really slowed down my labour. And when it came to pushing, I couldn't feel anything and ended up with forceps. When I had my son 3 months ago, I planned on having another epidural but I dilated so fast that he was born in 3 hours from start to finish, so I had no time for anything, not even gas and air. If I were to have a third baby I'd go for a natural delivery if I knew it was going to be quick, but there's nothing wrong with having an epidural. Wait til your in labour and decide for definite then.
Best Wishes and Good Luck!! Gxx

Answer 6

An epidural is supposed to numb you from the waist down, but a lot of people have had problems with it. Either it didn't work or it worked too well. I had a natural birth and I didn't think it was that bad. To me, I didn't really feel the pain, it was more pressure. I was in control because I could let them know when I was ready to push. If you have a high pain tolerance, birth isn't as bad as some people make it.

Answer 7

Hi there. I can honestly say that having an epidural is the next best thing to sex. I was having major contractions and that was 3 years ago and you had to be 4 cm dialated before you got the epidural. After several hours of hard contractions they finally took me to labour and delivery to get the epidural. After I got it it was smooth sailing. Alot of people say it hurts to get this done but I found it more painful to get your IV in the hand then the epidural in the back. My lasted as long as it needed too. I am pretty sure you can get it earlier now. If you are in alot of pain and are only 2cm dialated I am sure they give it to you that early now. So I would recamend this to anyone. Hope this helps you. Good luck!

Answer 8

Well, when I had my first son. I felt everything. The epidural didnt work. Hopefully that wont happen too you.
With my second son, it was first placed in wrong and I had what they call spinal headache afterwords. I could only lay flat. It was the worst headache ever. But I didnt feel the contractions during labor. I only felt the pressure to push and then my son was born. Then the epidural stopped working.
Both hospitals here gave it to me when I asked for it. But I was over 4 cm dialated.
I didnt feel either needle... I guess the contractions make you not realize the other pain. I was just nervous though.
Good luck and Congrats!
Good luck and congrats!

Answer 9

I had one with my first baby, they give it to you once labour is established, yes it does block out the pain but for some reason mine only worked on one side, as for how long it lasts when it starts to wear off they will just top it up as they leave the tube in place once the epidural has been given, it is an ongoing pain killer, with mine they tapered it off towards the end so i still had the experience of pushing, hope that helps...
Good luck with everything, and congratulations...

Answer 10

My wife had one and she was 3cm dilated.
Her pain completely went and only knew she was contracting when she either touched her belly or looked at the monitor.
The only pain she felt was when pushing our daughter out and at that point the epidural was wearing off.
She had it topped up twice in the 6hr 40 minute labour.
Sometimes epidurals lengthen the labour because your more restricted as far as movement - numb legs i think.
At one point my wife had to move on to her left or right side because one side had gone numb and there can be a danger of blood pressure dropping.
Even knowing the risks my wife would choose it every time.

Answer 11

i was around 4-5 cm dilated when i had the epidural both times for me it worked so well the midwifes had to tell me when to push but it doesn't work that well for all there was a girl in a room next to me giving birth screaming her head off the midwife told me her epidural had no effect but in most cases it works well. i will be having an epidural for a third time in September good luck
oh and you can keep having it topped up