is it better to have a epidural or no epidural if you having a normal delivery?

Question

i heard the epideral will hurt your back or it can perilize you after you give birth.

Answer 1

no epidural. it takes hours to be able to move your legs, you're right, it CAN paralyze you, and introduces drugs into your newborn's body, that can effect its breathing. not worth the risks. you can handle sme pain.

Answer 2

It is better for you and the baby if you go naturally, i.e. without an epidural. I'm talking about health here, not comfort. An epidural will obviously kill the pain, but it will also numb your feeling for everything else, includind using the bathroom, pushing the baby out, etc.

Epidural medications will get to the baby in some amount, leaving him or her less responsive at birth and potentially giving breathing, sucking, and bonding problems. Not a huge deal, since you have access to breathing apparatus and such, but avoiding these problems is obviously better than signing up for them.

The big thing you should know, however, is that epidurals notoriously slow labor, causing other problems, if you have one prior to being 5 cm dilated. If your labor slows, you'll probably be given a drug to speed up your contractions, which is harder on your baby than your normal contractions, and will be more painful if the epidural wears off. If your labor slows, you're chances of having a cesarean go way up too because epidurals can cause lots of problems if you have one for too long.

Because of this slowing and subsequent problems, it would be the best choice to simply wait until you are at least 5 cm before calling the anesthesiologist. It's obviously better to not have it at all, but some labors are more painful than others, and an epidural can mean the difference between a semi-traumatic and a pleasurable birth experience.

If you're in unbearable pain before you reach 5 cm, something else might be going on, making it all the more important for you to maintain your ability to move around (to help baby get into a better position, perhaps) and keep your sensation in case something does go wrong. If something IS wrong, it will be easier to see it if you can feel it and let your care providers know.

Oftentimes, a painful labor signals something that is easily solved with movement, massage, a warm bath, drinking, or eating. If baby isn't in the best position, it can hurt, and movement is your best friend. Perhaps you should get into a different position or walk around. Taking a warm bath is known as the "midwife's epidural" because of its amazing pain-relieving qualities for women, even in back labor. Sometimes you may be having more pain because you haven't eaten anything in a long time. Make sure you have some snacks with you and that you eat them, especially if you're feeling exhausted. Believe me, fasting will not prevent you from being sick during transition and it will help keep your energy levels where they need to be.

Try all of these things, if you can, before you go for the big E. None of those other things will harm you or your baby, and they just might do the trick. Definitely worth a try.

It's a good idea to have a plan for what you want to happen before you have an epidural and make sure your support team knows what those things are so they can help you do them if the time comes. You can also have a code word to say when you mean, "I want the drugs now, I'm serious, I don't want any more alternative suggestions."

Answer 3

Whether or not you get an epidural is your choice. There is a risk of being paralyzed from the epidural if a wrong move is made during the procedure. Some women do experience back pains later on in life after getting the epidural (myself included). It really depends on how well you can tolerate pain. There are other medications that will be offered to you while you are in labor to help ease the pains of the contractions, but not dead the pain like the epidural will.

Answer 4

An epidural is a personal decision. Like with any medical thing, there are side effects. You have to look at what is better for you, the benefits of the epidural or the side effects.

Also, getting paralyzed by the epidrual is very rare.

For me, I did hate the epidural, because of how it made me not able to move. I hate not having full movement of my body. Also, it stopped me from progressing, and I ended in a c-section. But, I am not in the norm, most woman love the epidraul!

Answer 5

I wanted a no meds delivery. I was induced and my body could not relax to the painful contractions. After 10 hours, I face my fear of the epidural, I could not take the pain any more so I gave in, it was the best decision. It doesn't hurt, you have to be very still, even with a contraction! It feels tingly in the legs and like someone is messing with your nerves. There are risks, but it depends on your trust in the medical group. My doc was fabulous. I have heard other friends whose epidural did not work as effective, but I would do it again. I managed to sleep, baby came faster and I got her out in 20 min! She was my first!
Inform yourself so that you know what are the odds of this happening. Talk to your doc, get to know the anestesiologist. There are women who can handle birth. I took 10 hours of terrible pain and the doc said that if I didn't go for epidural I would be there till the next day and baby could be at risk. I preferred epi than C section if something went wrong because of being stubborn.

Answer 6

I'm in the same boat of the question of epidural or not, but I'm voting for. This is my first baby and a few friends were so exhausted from the pain while trying to not have an epidural that pushing was just torture and they wished they had had the epidural. I'm going to have one, I've decided, sure we could stand the pain but this is going to be a long process and an emotional one. Its your choice but many women have an epidural and nothing bad comes of it so don't let others guilt you into trying to be a supermom when you honestly don't have to be.

Answer 7

I'm going to try and not do an epidural as well. Ideally, though, I would like a pure water birth, at home, with a midwife, but that's not feasible with this baby. Also, with the epidural, one is given another drug (the name escapes me now) to HELP the contractions, as they all but stop after the drug kicks in. Yikes. Just what my baby needs-- To be drugged up before she's even fully born.

I need to look into alternatives, soon, as she's due next month.

Answer 8

I work for a group of anesthesiologist (the docs that do the epidural). I have attended meetings on just this matter, before I was preg., and what they talked about freaked me out! I learned about all kind of things that can go wrong! But they are rare, really rare. The most common side effect is the headache, a really bad headache. I have a phobia to needles and getting one stuck in my back is just to crazy for me to do! I think the stress of it is worse for me and the baby than labor will be, but I have already chosen my anesthesiologist just in case I change my mind!! LOL!! Plus they turn off the epidural when you have to start pushing, so it isn't effective during the actual birth. I am gonna try to go with just a simple narcotic to dull the pain during labor. But to each their own. Trust me if the pain gets bad enough I won't care where they stick a needle, lol! Good Luck!!

Answer 9

"Epidural analgesia offers the most effective but most invasive and potentially hazardous method of pain relief in labour (Thorp and Breedlove 1996; Bogod 1995). The data is clear on two side-effects: epidural analgesia increases the duration of labour and the frequency of operative delivery (Thorp and Breedlove 1996; Enkin et al. 2000). Epidural analgesia is associated with longer first and second stages of labour, an increased incidence of fetal mal-position, an increased use of oxytocin and instrumental delivery (Howell 2004). Other associated risks are intrapartum fever, which can lead to the baby being investigated for infection (Lieberman and O’Donoghue 2002), and significant perineal trauma because of the more frequent use of operative vaginal delivery (Robinson et al. 1999; Donnelly et al. 1998)."

http://www.rcm.org.uk/professional/docs/guidelines_formatted_070105v2.doc

Answer 10

Depends on how much your insurance covers. Epidurals are around $1000. I'm not planning on paying $1000 for pain relief that might not last the whole labor. Is $1000 worth the couple of hours of relief? Not for me. Babies are expensive as it is and $1000 can go towards other baby stuff once it's born.

Answer 11

The side effects are very rare. I had an epidural with my 10 year old and it worked great, I felt absolutly nothing. I also had one with my 6 week old son and it didn't work at all! The good thing about both births is that I never had any kind of bad effects, if you don't count that the one never worked!