Epidural

I had no pain relief (i dont count gas & air as pain relief) with either of my two babies in the UK, but that was definitely NOT my choice. I begged for an epidural only to be told that as i had made it thus far without, i could do the rest. the real reason, in my view, was that an epidural would require an anaesthetist, closer monitoring of both baby and me and would therefore cost the NHS much more than a pain relief free birth. yes, I did manage, because I had to, but was left pretty traumatised both times. I would not choose to have a dentist extract a tooth without anaesthetic, so I personally dont see anything wrong with taking advantage of effective pain relief during child birth. Yes, there are risks with an epidural, but there are plenty of risks generally with a totally natural birth as well - hence the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in days of yore. You wont know how you feel, or how the birth will go, until you get there. Do your research (actual scientific studies, not hearsay), speak to your doctor about the probability of the epidural not working and then see how you go. If you want the pain relief while you are in labour, take it. PS - even though I didnt get the epidural during labour, I had to have it afterwards to get stitched up after no. 2. the needle went into my spine and felt like a pin-prick, the anaesthetic worked as it should during the procedure and i had no subsequent back pain or anything else after it wore off. PPS - I am expecting my third baby in a few months and have already asked for the epidural :) Good luck!

Congrats on your baby's upcoming arrival! I'm the mum of 2 and have had the first with an epidural and the second without. I went into my first birth thinking I'll wait and see and get an epidural if I decided I couldn't take the pain any longer. No one told me that I was in transition when I finally got the epidural. If they had, I probably would have made it through the birth without one. I also didn't realize that laying in a bed on your back is the absolutely worst thing you can do during labor. Makes the contractions much harder to tolerate. I think if I would have been up and about during the first labour and had someone tell me I was nearing the end, I really wouldn't have needed the epidural with #1. I had an unmedicated birth with my second and have absolutely no regrets. If we have #3, I will try to do the same again. Labour is intense, but women have been doing it for generations without epidurals. Our bodies are made to do this. Our bodies generally also don't make babies we cannot birth naturally unless we have complications like gestational diabetes. With both births, it got super intense and I started to doubt myself just at the point where I was in transition which means I was nearing the end. I think knowing that the end is in sight makes it much, much easier to endure. The epidural is a medical procedure and medication. That always comes with risks. Go over those risks thoroughly with your doctor (NOT untrained medical professionals or people who have never had one). Also know that getting an epidural does increase your risk of needing a c-section. For some people that's not a concern, but for me that was a big driver for wanting an unmedicated birth with my second. Oh, and I always thought I had a low pain tolerance, too, until I birthed 2 babies, 1 without medication. It's not about pain tolerance. I think if you understand what's going to happen, have a good support system with you while in labour, and can trust yourself you will be fine without an epidural.