Regret Epidural?

Question

Is there anyone who regretted getting the epidural? Like you had issues or something went wrong.. I am really trying to go for a natural childbirth but have no tolerance for pain so I am not sure what I will do.....



15 weeks pregnant

Answer 1

I had an epidural and it was wonderful! There is no need to suffer through all that pain with such a marvelous preventative available. Talk with your doctor about the risks if you are unsure, but I certainly can't imagine childbirth without the epidural.

Answer 2

I do not regret getting the epidural, but I do regret the timing of the epidural. I got it right at 3 cm and it slowed my labor to almost a halt. I was put on pitocin, but that didn't work and the babies heartrate went down. I ended up with a C-section.
I feel that if I had waited, even for just 1 or 2 more cm, I might have avoided the surgery. I was also being induced at 36 weeks for preeclampsia, so that did have a bit of an effect on my outcome.

Answer 3

Well, i didnt have an epidural, and im glad i didnt. With my first child i just had pethidine and gas, my second, no drugs at all. The pain is bad, but you can live with it, you mightnt think so, but you can, and the time goes by so quick. I was glad i didnt have an epidural, i hate hospitals, and i just wanted to get home as quick as i could, i went home the next day, but i would have had to stay in longer had i had an epidural, plus i have seen the bruises from a botched attempt to insert the needle in the right place, yucky. You will be surprised about the amount of pain you can take during childbirth, and its gone as soon as you look at your baby, and you are just relieved its over. You can cope, if i can, you can, plus i have been told that drugs of any kind can make the labour longer, i dont know if its true or not, but my first baby was out in 6 hours, and my drug free boy came out in only 3, so i think i had better be careful when i sneeze this time.

Answer 4

I had an epidural and I will say that the birth was relatively painless.

I won't lie to you, the worst part of it is the needle going into your back. Next time, I am going to request a mild sedative so that I don't tense up so much during that part of it.

Afterwards though, it is soooo worth it. The birth part of it for me felt like (and I'm sorry to be too descriptive), a really effortless bowel movement! (TMI??!!!). And my child was 8 1/2 pounds... so she wasn't exactly small.

The only thing I felt after that was her stitching me a bit, but even that wasn't too bad.

I didn't have any after effects apart from slightly numb fingertips on my right hand. This went away about 4 hours after they took the epidural out (which I didn't feel either).

I would definitely do the whole epidural thing again though, in a heartbeat!!!

It's a personal choice though.. and I'm a wimp. I have no end of admiration those women who chose the natural path!!

Answer 5

I was hoping to go natural but was open to the epidural if I felt like I couldn't handle the pain. What was most important to me was to be able to enjoy the birth of my son.

I ended up getting the epidural. I had an unbelievable amount of pain shooting from my hip down my left leg. I couldn't stand the pain and was crying because it hurt SOOO bad. It wasn't the contractions that hurt...it was the pain in my leg. After I had the epidural the pain in my leg did NOT go away!! It turned out that I had a blood clot the size of a cantaloupe in my uterus and it was sitting on my sciatic nerve. Had I not had that clot I honestly don't know if I would have gotten the epidural...like I said the contractions didn't hurt...at least not yet.

I will say that it did help me relax and it sped up my labor. Have a plan, but be open for change and you'll be fine. Good luck!!

Answer 6

Hell NO I don't regret epidural I think it's the best thing ever why would anyone want more pain than necessary. If this is your 1st statistically 80% of 1st time women who say they don't want an epidural get one anyway and I'm sure that number would be higher if it wasn't for the fact that women ask for one when it's to late! So chances are with the 1st being the longest labor you will at some point get one. Labor for 1st timers will last from 8-12 hours and that's if your lucky. I'm not trying to scare you I'm sure you will make the best decidion for you. But baby doesn't care infact epidural sometimes will sadate the baby a little which maynot be the worst thing consdering birth painful, stressfull and uncomforable for them too.

Answer 7

Depends what you imply via 'remorse it.' Did I take a seat right here and rue the day I determined to have one? No. Would I on the whole had been larger off NOT having one ... sure. (I had an overly lengthy and gradual relocating exertions. I had was hoping/deliberate to control with out meds, however after approximately 18 hours I was once simply too burnt up to retain. I opted for an epidural. When youngster was once born she had a fever (a natural part final result of the epidural) and ended up spending a couple of days within the NICU. And I had a few problems myself regarding it. There was once no long run damage to both people, and I am absolutely secure with my determination -- it was once the exceptional one I would have made on the time I made it. But yeah, if I'd identified the outcome, I on the whole could have attempted slightly tougher ... performed my lamaze sporting events extra diligently ... made myself relaxation extra throughout the early side of work. But existence is going on.

Answer 8

I didn't have an epidural; honestly I wouldn't someone put a needle in my spine. I didn't find childbirth painful at all. Most of the pain of childbirth is caused by fear. Fear causes your body to go into "flight of fight" mode which deprives your uterus of oxygen. And like any muscle doing hard work without enough oxygen it gets sore -just like when you work out really hard. But back to your question.

I know two women who regret getting epidurals. One didn't really have any complications but she just didn't like it at all. She didn't have one with her next baby and thought it was great. She has really strong negative feelings about the epidural but I don't know her well enough to really get into it with her.

I know another woman who had an epidural and they screwed up and gave her too much medication. She has permanent back problems, she is lucky that is all that happens. She very vividly remembers the doctor looking at how much drug had been given to her and screaming at the nurse "Look at her she can't weigh over 120lbs soaking wet! That's twice what she should have, you stay in this room in case she goes into distress". Complications even from a properly done epidural are rare, but they do exist, and of course all people make mistakes -whether they are doctors, nurses, or the guy making your burger.

Really I think you need to educate yourself and try to make the best possible decision for you. No one else can do that for you.

Answer 9

I had Epidural, they had to stick me twice, but I would do it again. I have little tolerance for pain so i was glad. The only thing i disliked was the stoped it for a couple of min. then try to give me a little extra at the end, but it didnt kick in till the labor was over. My right leg went numb it was deadweight for all of five min afterward. To me that wasnt a big deal. With my next child i plan on another Epidural.

Answer 10

I had an epidural with my first child birth. I am going to avoid it this time if at all possible. My labor was over 20 hours long. I feel the epidual prolonged my labor. Once I received the epidural I got extremely sick-headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness. It ran out long before my labor was over and I did the hard part without any pain med what so ever, so this time I figure if I am going to have to go through the hard part without any relief, I can do the whole thing without it! I also had problems walking for hours after my labor was over even though the pain relief was long gone by the end of child birth. I regret it and am going to go naural this time and try using the awesome whirlpool they have in their birthing suites this time, I've been told it really helps labor progress and actually lessens the pain because it helps you relax.