Anyone had gas&air during labour?

Question

I am due to give birth to my first child and want a natural birth (don't we all). I was just wondering if anyone has tried gas and air (of course you have) and mayve give me some opinions on it. And also any other advise on labour would be appreciated. X from excited and nervous

Answer 1

I would say it was helpful early on - kind of made you feel like you'd had a couple of drinks, but late on it ceratainly didn't take any pain away, just gave me something to concetrate on

Answer 2

I had gas and air, and nothing else - I was in labour for 5 hours and 8 minutes, of which I remember about twenty minutes at the end - gas and air seemed to really knock me out!
Don't worry, and don't let the midwife scare you! What will happen will happen. I was told I was having a back to back baby and would really need an epidural - they didn't have time to give one, and I was FINE. Your body WILL take over when the time comes, and you'll just get on with it. it's NOT as bad as they try and tell you.
Don't feel bad if you need drugs - it's not a contest, all you really want is a healthy baby.
Don't think a first labour will be really long, it might not be.
Don't forget, labour is the beginning, not the end of the process!

Answer 3

Hey what an exciting time for you. Ive had two natural births now (well using gas and air to aid me) and both experiences were great. Naturally it hurt but its real do able and a lot of my friends who chose to have epidurals are still suffering back-ache to this day! Apparently this is a common side effect of an epidural so you go girl if you want a natural birth then just trust in the strength that you have within you! If you do manage on Gas and Air you will feel great about it afterwards! Goodluck with it all x x x

Answer 4

I only had gas and air with my second little boy it worked a treat to begin with but once the contraction took hold it didn't work so well........ It does give you something to focus on and I found biting really hard on the mouthpiece really helpful. I had an epidural with my first little boy and will not be having another as it affected my legs. What I will say though is just go with the flow see how you get on in labour and decide as you go, the midwifes are there to support you but don't feel disappointed if you need more pain relief just see how it goes...... Good luck with everything and congrats in advance for the gorgeous little bundle you'll soon have! Any thing else I can help with don't hesitate to email xx xx

Answer 5

Hi ya, I have 3 children, not all great births but I won't go into that, I had gas and air for the first two and I thought it was great, made in a little giggly but really relaxed me which helped me cope with the pain. Good luck I wish you all the best, just remember giving birth is the most natural thing in the world and can be an amazing experience.

Answer 6

Gas and air can be very effective if you start taking it as you feel contraction starting and continue taking it all the way through the contraction. Works even better if coupled with a TENS machine. I would look up active birth on the web and look for effective positions to use during natural labour such as kneeling, birthing ball, walking around the room, on all fours etc. Stay as mobile as possible. This should help. Good luck.

Answer 7

I loved it and so did my husband LOL.it takes the edge of the pain and no more its a bit like being really merry with drink for a very short time (bout10secs)after you stop breathing it in.Don't expect to much from yourself in labour just do the best you can and if that means having more pain relief than you planned then that's ok coz it does hurt a lot.I didn't want a lot of pain relief in labour in the end i had Gas and Air,Pethidine and an Epidural(which was great).Take what you want to.

Good luck

Answer 8

i had gas & air it make me feel dizzy and sick and not in control they will always offer you this first as it has the least effect on the baby staying in your system and crossing the placenta for about a minute,
also they no longer offer pethadine (shown to make babies sleepy and slow to respond) its now morphine! The only advice i can offer is to remember its you in labour and your baby so relax and do it your way and to take most advice with a pinch of salt as every birth is different ive got 4 children aged between 10 & 19 months and trust me all were very different i was also my sisters birthing partner when she had her baby 10 months ago which was a wonderful experience anyway enough from me i could talk about this stuff all day!
all the best to you and your soon to be new family

Answer 9

i tried it but after about 4 contractions i had to stop. i thought it had a funny taste and i could feel my self starting to hallucinate.

This doesn't happen to everyone... my sister loved it and my mum used it for all of us 3. Try it and see how you get on.

if you want gas and air maybe just breathing slowly will help. I gave birth to my first child without any other pain relief.

When each contraction started i slowly breathed in deeply and slowly breathed back out. i repeated this until the contraction ended. This didn't take the pain away it just helped me to cope with it and feel in control.

Try and remain calm and relaxed and this will also help.

The other thing that helped me was concentrating on one contraction at a time. When each once started i did my breathing and when it was over i thought "that's one less to do" rather then "i don't want to do this anymore/how long will this last" etc.

Good luck I'm due again in 16 days and cant wait... giving birth was the most amzing experience of my life

Answer 10

I had natural, there is a point in the labor (mine was only 3hrs long) that you feel like you NEED drugs.... Pay attention to the breathing, I had a mirror and that helped when I was pushing A LOT, and a focus object like child's clothes for the way home really kept me remembering why I was doing this. I had oxygen, well they made me and I HATED IT because I got soooooo thirsty and I had like 5 cups of icechips because of the breathing.... I wouldnt suggest gas because it can make A LOT of people sick, my friend was throwing up for hours during and after delivery because of it. HOPE this is what you were looking for and GOOD LUCK

OH and all women poo a little because of the muscles you use for pushing , the doctors clean it up so quickly and you are so in the moment, you could care less... dpnt let that freak you out, there's a lot wierder stuff going on down there to worry about

Answer 11

I had gas & air for my first (& only) child. Found it a help - without detracting too much from the experience. I also had a shot of pethidine & this defintiely made me feel too 'spaced out'. I suppose it depends on how labour's going & how long its lasting. I was in 'discomfort' rather than pain for about 4 hrs before I was taken to delivery room, and my son was born about 3 hrs later.
All the best...enjoy the labour if you can, the experience is just awesome!