Epidural - Dilemma 🤦‍♀️

Had an epidural with my first, soon after it went in babies heart rate dropped and ended in forceps delivery. I read 1 in 3 will end up in assisted delivery with an epidural. Second time round I managed without any pain relief and it was so much better both the delivery and recovery. I recommend a hypnobirthing course, was the best thing I did during my second pregnancy x

Hey, I did have an epidural and I wasn’t sure if I wanted one before labour as I was hoping for a water birth- but I did decide to have one as the back pain was intense for me and I couldn’t get comfortable. I am so glad I got one as I had a very long labour😅 (I could still feel pressure down there just took the edge off and make the back pain more bearable) Yes there are risks like everything - recommend doing your research and you can always decide when in labour like I did.

I had an epidural quite late into my labour as I hadn’t wanted one. I didn’t have any side effects and it did take the pain away so would have one again if I couldn’t manage the pain. I did have an assisted delivery but that may also been because I had a hormonal induction due to meconium. I didn’t like not being able to move though so would have preferred a mobile epidural but my hospital didn’t do them

I had an epidural with my first baby. My labour was very long and I could not cope any longer without some permanent pain relief haha. It was an assisted delivery but overall I’m glad I got the epidural. I’m due end of November and I have put epidural on my birthing plan again.

Like @Caroline I had it with my first and similar thing the heart rate dropped and I had forceps, but also not sure if this was because I had a back to back labour. I’d say during the labour itself it helped a lot because I could barely talk from when I got to the hospital until I had it( about 12 hours) Only issues were made me sweat and shake, I felt instant relief though so at the time I’d say it was worth it. And I think It caused me back pain after but not serious pain

If you can I’d have a x section , yes it sounds scary and I was , but it was the best decision ever , I had a bad experience with epidural as I was induced , it didn’t work for me

I loved mine, literally the best. I was induced with the drip and was barely coherent until the epidural went in. Then napped my way to from 2-10cm in about 4 hours, pushed out baby in 45 mins, no forceps/c section etc. 2nd degree tearing but they were debating whether to put 1st or 2nd on my notes so can’t have been that bad. Best thing you can do is ahead of time research the risks and side effects cause in the moment when they ask you there’s no time to read through it then, you just want it in! I’m 17m post partum now and have had no effects from it.

Honestly I think it’s all personal preference. Some people cope very well without and some do not (me)!. We all feel birth/pain differently. Create a birth plan that you want with some research, but be open to how it could change! X

I had an epidural first baby as she was back to back. I wasn’t dialating and I couldn’t cope with the pain in my back. I had rubbish people at it took 3 attempts 2 people to get it in. Then when I needed a top up the clasp broke so they had to remove it and put another one in. I was actually more worried about a catheter than the epidural lol The epidural itself wasn’t painful, it’s just hard to sit when you are having contractions. I didn’t feel baby coming out at all, which did make it harder to push (2 hours!) and I needed suction to get her out I did have back pain for some time after birth. Im 24 weeks with my second and I would have another one if in that moment I time I felt I needed it x

I was about 8cm when I had mine done, if I’d known how far I was I probably wouldn’t have bothered but glad I did in the end because I had to have my placenta manually removed so they were able to just top it up to full spinal. I could still walk around with it before that and it was amazing!

I had one after 12hrs induced labour unmedicated, I was putting it off as k was terrified of getting it but I only wish I got it sooner. I only went 1cm bigger in that full 12 hrs and it took 8hrs to go from 4-10cm with the epidural. I did stop using it 1&1/2 hrs before birth so I could feel my contractions and was better to push her out. Didn’t need any intervention and I didn’t have any issues in labour with it thankfully xx

I don't think you can say whether you want one or not until you're actually in labour, especially if this is your first baby. You may find that you cope better than you think and don't need anything stronger! The midwives usually recommend other pain relief first rather than going straight to epidural

I went into preterm labour (34 weeks) and had a very long labour, I initially refused the epidural (for no other reason other than I was unexpectedly early so hadn’t researched anything yet and all I knew was my sister didn’t want one for her birth so I said no myself 😅) however my waters didn’t break right up until baby boy was born and as there was so much pressure from my waters not being broken yet, I couldn’t stop involuntarily pushing which the midwife’s explained to me I needed to have an epidural because if I couldn’t stop pushing (as I wasn’t ready too yet) I would damage myself. So i had the epidural very late into the labour but honestly as soon as I had it I went to sleep for about three hours, woke up and 10 minutes later I’d had my baby boy. I couldn’t feel anything so midwife’s had to tell me when to push, his heart rate had dropped slightly and I had a episiotomy and forceps delivery however all was absolutely fine & baby was happy and healthy once born xx

First baby had an epidural much needed for the pain. However needed an epistomy think it’s called, basically a big cut and then heavy stitching and stayed in hospital a few days and took a few weeks to recover. Second baby did hypnobirthing techniques. No epidural, very minor tear, discharged from hospital the same day and felt more or less fine, little recovery time. There’s no right or wrong though, prepare as much as you can and then choose what you want/need in that moment.