Do you have a catheter while in labor?

Question

Or when will you? Or do you just have it if you have an epidural? I'm a littel confussed.

Answer 1

I have had 5 kids, 2 natural and with those 2 no catheter. But if you have a c-section you have to have one, until you are able to get up and out of bed.
Once you are at the hospital and in labor, you will be able to get up and go to the bathroom, and they want you to get up and walk and do things to get your labor going. but since you aren't drinking anything you usually don't have to go any more after you get the epidural. If you even decide to have one. But I really don't remember having to go or feeling like I needed to go once my labor progressed to where I was so uncomfortable I didn't want to get up and walk, that was with my natural drug free birth. With my first baby I had the epidural and after being in labor for hour before I had it, they had me go to the bathroom right before they gave it to me, and once I was pain free I slept threw the rest of my labor and my water never broke with that one. If your water breaks your leaking while in labor also. They have those large blue pads on the bed to keep it dry from that.

Answer 2

You will have a catheter if you have surgery or if you have an epidural. Some women will not get one with an epidural IF they emptied their bladder immediately prior to the epidural placement and the time the epidural is in place until the delivery is a short period, like less than 2 hours or so. If you have a catheter, it is removed when you start pushing.

You can request to not have a Foley catheter with an epidural - the kind of cath they leave in place - you can choose instead to be "straight cathed" which means they put the catheter in only long enough to drain the bladder and then it is removed. Sometimes you need to be straight cathed more than once if your labor is long.

Answer 3

You do not have to have a catheter in throughout your labor if you have an epidural. A lot of women lose sensation of their bladders, but some retain it and are able to use a bed pan to pee. The nurses will know when your bladder is getting full and they can use a straight catheter to drain the bladder. This catheter they will insert until the bladder is empty and then they will remove it. It will be used after delivery also until the women regain sensation in their legs.

Answer 4

i see you have a lot of different answers so i will tell you what i know.
i got a catheter with my labor, maybe an hour after my epidural. it did not hurt, probably b/c the epidural. and i got it removed after the baby came out, still didn't hurt. i definitely remember it being after b/c i was way more calm. if it was before the baby came i probably would have cursed them out for being focused on pee than a head trying to squeeze out my vagina. thats what happened to me, i hope i helped.

Answer 5

I haven't gone through labor yet, but when my friend had her daughter she had a vaginal delivery and had the catheter.. after the epidural.

Answer 6

I think you just have to have one if you have an epidural or C-section.. Other then that I am sure you dont have to go through getting one..

Answer 7

I don't believe so.. I think the only time that you have a catheter is when you have had surgery and they find it necessary to do so. Usually for the purpose of measuring your urine and analyzing it for some reason. I didn't have a catheter for either one of my pregnancies.

Answer 8

I've never heard of anyone having one, epidural or not, if they were having a vaginal birth. Only mom's who've had c-sections get them as far as I've seen.

Answer 9

I had a c-section and had one my sister had normal birth w/ an epidural and never had one.....

Answer 10

just an epidural