Hi Im 7 months pregnant, and I am really starting to get nervous about giving birth. I know I defintely want to have an epideral, so I was wondering about them. Both of my cousines had them, and I was in the room when they deivered. They were calm, in no pain, and said they were glad they got them. But Im afraid Ill get to the hospital and be too far to get one, or my blood pressure will be too high, or something like that. Or my doctor wont get there on time to order me one. Can a nurse order an epideral or does it have to be your doctor? And how soon can you get an epideral, and when is it too late?
2007-03-19 17:34:11 · 7 answers · asked by mandiliz06 4 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
first of all you decide to get epidural not ur doctor. doc will only say no if it will be dangerous to you or baby, which its usually not. ive had 4 of them. you definitely want to get it before they break your water if they gotta do that. what will happen is that they will put iv fluids in you for an hour before the epidural so make sure you get it fairly early , not too early though. depending on your insurance. you only get one dose to last whole time. but if you wait too late youll still feel labor and waist down go numb after you re done lol. ive had that happen once. so i would guess when they say your 4 cm dialated go ahead and ask for it so they can do their ivs on ya an call for the anestesiologist. i hope this helps. good luck.
2007-03-19 20:31:13 · answer #1 · answered by war 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My doctor left orders for me to get my epidural when I wanted it. Some doctors make you get dilated to a certain point before they'll let you have one since it can slow things down. Most of the time if the nurse doesnt have orders for one she can get verbal orders from the doctor on the phone. Before you get all stressed out about it call and ask your OB what their policy is. You still have a few months to go....maybe your doctor will want to induce you and you wont have to worry about being too far along. Believe me, this being your first baby it probably wont be as fast as you think it will be!
2007-03-19 17:40:56 · answer #2 · answered by GAjen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you taken a childbirth class yet? You might want to read up on pain management techniques. Just in case your worries are realized.
i really liked "birthing from within" it helped me manage 12 hours of highest dose pitocin with no meds. Some of my friends swear by hypnobirthing or Bradley. Please look into something ASAP.
I had an epidural with my first and the three day headache afterwards made me never want another 10 inch needle in my spine. She also broke my tailbone because they didn't turn the epidural off soon enough for me to push in a gravity freindly position.
I ended up in a c-section with my son, but had a spinal instead of an epidural. they don't leave the needle/tube in for that.
2007-03-19 18:04:20 · answer #3 · answered by Terrible Threes 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had high blood pressure so bad with my children that they put me on medication and I also started getting sick from it. I had an ephideral with all of my pregnancies and the last one was wonderful I got one and I couldn't even feel any of my labor pains. Anyways, as long as your water doesn't break and you start moving along fast you should be able to get an ephideral even if your doctor is late they still have nurses, and he/she should have a cell phone and/or beeper so that if you need pain medication the correct person can give it to you. The last thing they want is for you to be uncomfortable!
Also, usually they allow you to have pain medication when the pain gets to unbearable for you to tolerate!
Good Luck!
2007-03-19 17:45:22 · answer #4 · answered by Nisi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Normally, you make the decision...not the nurse or doctor. Tell your doctor now that you would like to have it as an option. At my hospital, they let me have one right away, and I was only at 2.5cm. Some hospitals make you wait closer to 4 cm, it just depends. If you would like one, get one while you can because as you progress in labor it is possible for it to be too late for it to work. This happened to several women I know who waited until it was too late. Personally, I loved it. It made labor enjoyable.
2007-03-19 17:43:04 · answer #5 · answered by Lindsay M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes a doctor has to order it. Usually you get an epidural between 3-5 cm. Usaully if you are 8-9 they will not give it to you.
2007-03-19 17:53:01 · answer #6 · answered by crackiswhack 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
doctors usually will not order an epidural after you are 6 cm dialated because the labor progresses too fast after that for the epidural to take effect
2007-03-19 19:34:50 · answer #7 · answered by Kitty1981 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋