Wow, maranda and klotsygirl, than you for sharing your experiences.

Jesyca, each hospital has different policies on eating or not. for example, you might be at a dinner party when you suddenly get contractions, and your water breaks. What then? WIll you have fasted before going to the hospital? No necessarily.

What was really frghtening for me with #3, going for an nduction, was that was not told NOT to eat. When it went wrong after the epidural, then one of my fears, since epidural or not, it was going to be a c-s under general anaesthesia, was what will happen? I ate breakfast!

And generally speaking, even if you do go for an induction, quite a few hours will go by before anything hapens.

If you are going in for a "natural vaginal delivery" I recommend you eat at least a snack...as some ladies will tell you, 24 hours or more without food when you are pregnant is not exactly fun! Discuss it wth your md.

One of the things with either an epi or an induction is that 1) you will likely have an IV attaced to you: 2) you may also have a catheter to wihdraw urine (ouch); 3) your md will be mor elikly to insist that you have CONTINUOUS fetal monitoring..ie that belt attaced to your belly at all times. Otherwise, you could get away with intermitent monitoring, where the nurses check every once in a while, and then remove the belt.

That means that you can walk freeely up and down the halls, go into the jacuzzi, get up on a whim to use the toilet, change positions, ec. more freely.

All of these can help you contract and dilate more efficiently, than when you are straddled, flat on your back, legs in stirrups! THat "conventional" position is actually one of the WORST used commonly in hospitals, by default, to get baby out...because it is simply more difficult to push baby out that way.

AN excellent position is the one photographed in the thread HOMEBIRTH. IF you are flat on your back because of IV'S, catheters, and monitors,it really is more difficult, and there seems to be some added "collateral damage" in that often, other complications may ensue.

I had an epidural after a couple of days of labour. It was great! I could still stand up and feel the contractions as each dose wore off and I was able to rest a bit and experience the great joy of the delivery without it being clouded by pain or drugs that can make you woozy like the gas and air or morphine (that I tried earlier)!
I don't mind if it made my labour last a bit longer - the bit with the epidural was the most enjoyable part! I was monitored so I knew the baby was OK and the pushing only took 20min. Fab! I'm so glad I had my baby with this option rather than in the past or another country where so many women have no choice other than terrible agony. I think it was far nicer for my husband too - it must be horrible for our loved ones to see us in terrible pain.
If it's your first you'll probably have plenty of time to experience the pain of contractions and make a more informed decision at the time but if you put in your birth plan that you don't want an epidural, precious time will be wasted while people try to persuade you to take the pain! I would stay open to all options - interventions save the lives of mothers and babies and happen to people with and without epidurals as does tearing and slowing of contractions. I think that people who have the best experiences are the ones who are flexible about what they want. Good luck and enjoy :)

I'd be interested to hear if there are any people who had an epidural then decided after the first dose that they didn't like it and wanted to continue labouring without further pain relief so stopped topping up the epidural. Presumably this is an option?

I couldn't face reading all the research stuff posted earlier but I'm a scientific researcher and would take a Cochrane Review as the gold standard. Just my professional opinion.

During my labor I did it all natural. I was fortunate enough to be able to.I was completely determined to do it all natural. But that is me. I do feel that every person/mom knows what's best for her and her child. And if that person feels a epidural is best then she should get one. Does that mean she will have a c-section. No it doesn't. It just means there is a chance just like there would be a chance if the mother goes natural. There is a higher risk with epidurals but I don't see that as a huge risk. As for why I did it all natural has nothing to do with the higher risk for a c section. I simply did not want anything in my back.
Good luck ladies. Labor is a beautiful thing!!

The epidural was the only way I relaxed enough to dialate...it was awesome for me. I went from dialated 5 to pushing in an hour with an epidural.
That being said, I would like to try all natural with this one...bc I want to be able to walk and have it be a really peaceful homebirth. My second baby, I got the epidural with the hopes of getting some sleep for a couple hours, like I stated above, it didn't work for sleep, it made me dialate FAST!

Since I delivered thru a midwife I was allowed to eat and drink. My husband actually went to mcdonalds and got me a acold coca cola (because coca cola ALWAYS settled my stomach when preg) and drink the cold drink and munching on a snack really helped for on take my mind off of contractions and two settle my stomach. I got really sick when I shouldnt even have a glass of water!

I had an epidural for the same reasons most people do, because they are afraid of the pain, especially when it is your first baby and you do not know what is to come. Well to tell the truth, I held out on my epi until I was 6 cm dialated and it really wasn't that bad. Of course it hurt, but I dealt with it through controlled breathing. I think next baby, Im definately going to research hypnobirthing.

Well Franny is right, I DID have an IV, I DID have a catheter (ouch indeed!) And I DID have continuous fetal monitoring. All of those things made the last few hours of my labour kinda crappy, as opposed to the first hours, which were painful but not unbearable. Also, once it was time to push, the epi is turned down so that you can feel what you are doing, so you are going to feel that part, epi or not!
And I did have to have an episiotomy, but I think this had less to do with the epidural and more to do with the fact that my son was 10lbs, 11oz.

So with my next baby, all I'm going to do is remind myself that there are other ways. I know for myself, when I was pregnant I was so terrified of the unknown that I had committed myself to an epidural as soon as I found out I was pregnant! But I am not saying yes or no either way, probably just wait and see what happens.

This just seem too incredible:

http://www.blogher.com/birth-plan-doula-natural-birth-not-here-you-dont?from=nethed

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories.

I think the bottom line is - everyone is different! I have an aunt who has had 4 kids withe epidural and wouldn't do it any other way.

My sister is planning an unassisted home birth.

Do what works for you - but please either trust your doctor to do what's best for you, or do some research yourself (or both!)

And don't be afraid to share your opinion or experience either way - that's what this board is all about.

Oh for crying out loud! People have epidurals every day. I thought I could handle labor, and I couldn't! I was induced and my contractions were 1 minute apart and lasted 1 minute from the start!! I wouldn't have been able to have my baby vaginally if I wouldn't have gotten the epidural because I would have been worn out! It hurt like nothing I have ever experienced, and I didn't have a break to recover in between contractions really.....this time I'm hoping to go into labor myself, but have every intention on getting an epidural if I need one. If God has planned that something will go wrong with your labor, it will...epidural or not. That's how I see it.

I was given a consent form that needed to be signed. It had a lot of information about possible side effects. I also spoke to the anesthesiologist beforehand. Also, at a childbirth class, an entire day was dedicated to telling us about pain medications, including the epi. The epi. is actually safer than a lot of other pain meds (such as IV narcotics).

Britters: my contractions were extremely close together at the end also. The nurse also didn't have much time to get things ready. She even commented, "oh my goodness, you're not getting a break in between these contractions!"

I went with no pain meds until 5 cm, and no, it wasn't that bad. Doc broke my water and it still wasn't that bad. However, I was not scared of the contractions, I was scared of having a baby go through the birth canal!

Either way, all women should indeed be informed of the risks of every procedure. Remember, all medical procedures have risks.

Tank you Dee! I could not have said it better myself!

What many moms do not know is that epidurals are routinely administered WITH IV NARCOTICS! I am not kidding you. This goes back to the "informed consent" that I am talking about.

I can also tell you that I have had 3 epidurals, and NOT ONCE WAS I ASKED TO SIGN ANY INFORMED CONSENT FORM. NONE WHATSOEVER. So, just to what degree was anything really explained to me? Not much. That I remember, actually, nothing was said at all about potential problems, adverse effects, or the administration of the narcotics. Because epis are just given so routinely, at least in my hospitals, they were too busy to be bothered.

Ask to see your chart to see for yourself. It may often be these narcotics that actually cause problems with breastfeeding, for example. In addition, they may cause fetal decelerations...a decrease in fetal heart rate, which then can in some instances lead to a c-s.

After I visibly saw what an epi did to my first, I tried to go without for my second. At the last minute, I was told the anesthesiologist was leaving and it was "now or never". It was the middle of the night, and he would not be coming back. Sad to say, I chickened out, and asked for it "just in case."

That was a mistake; my labor visibly slowed. Whereas before it looked like I could squish him out all by myself within the next hour, I ended up laboring, instead, for like an additional 3 -4 hours. My pain went away But so did my contractions!

I was lucky that to "remedy" this "problem" of decreased contractions, they did not have to "augment" my labor by giving me oxytocin. Instead, they just waited for the effects of the epi to wear off somewhat! (But then, what useful purpose did the epi serve, if not to prolong my agony?)

With the third the, I was ADAMANT that I would do everything "au naturel", and go without any epidural, or other medical intervention, for that matter.

Alas, that was not to be. I was2 or 3 weeks late, depending on which date you took. I ended up going for an induction. Nobody had until that day even bothered to enlighten me that I had suddenly become Group B Strep +, and would need antibiotics. Therefore, it meant, I was told that I could not have the baby before at least four hours had lapsed, so the antibiotics could cross the placenta and treat the baby. Wasn't that nice to know!

Again, without asking, the stupid first-year resident (who presented herself to me like a fully-fledged md, broke my waters, again without me being asked. Within 5 mins of this intervention, his heart dropped to 50 from 160, and stayed there for a whopping 5 mins! I actually asked for a c-s at that point, and was denied. I was dead scared that I was going to lose the baby.

Instead, they took me off the oxytocin for an hour, to see if his HR had stabilised, which it somewhat had, but at 120 instead of 160. And then, they put me back on it! Again, without discussing anthing about it. And I guess that now, they wanted to get him out ASAP, so they were giving mega doses of the oxytocin. Which, like you Britters, I was no longer able to tolerate, or so I thought.

I believed, that if I did not get an epi, I would for sure end up with that c-s..which I still wanted to avoid, obviously. I talked for a few mins to an alleged anaesthesiologist (aain, as I found out after, he was just a resident in anaesthesia) who assured m of the safety of epidurals, etc. I was concerned if ti could harm the baby. I was told no. In fact, I was given wrong information; epidrurals CAN indeed lead to fetal distress; my baby was already in fetal distress!, so that would have been contra-indicated. Well, that idiot fumbled about, poking me in different regions, at least 2 or 3. Since then, I actually have some nerve damage to my lumbar spine, which results in no sensation in my left foot.

After he fumbled about, he finally got it in. except that when they put the monitor back on there was nothing. They could not find the heart in any fashion. In the end, they have absolutely NO heart tracing for over 30 mins! During this time, I did not know if he was alive or dead. ALll what I knew was to bark at them to call the "real" OB-GYN NOW!

Well, they did. He was there in less than 2 mins and announced tome that baby was in distress, ad we needed to do a c-s STAT! WTF? What had I been tellin

Less than 12 mins after, 2 floors down, on the opposite side of the hospital, epidural in place or not, they decided to do general anaesthesia, and he was born, by CRASH c-s.

Result? I could not see him for more than 24 hrs. When I finally saw him, I was told be be prepared for anything; anything could happen (he can die) and that it was extremely serious. THe next few days would be critical.

It was a true miracle that he survived. He spent 5 weeks in NICU, and 3 more mths in the ped. hospital.

If that resident had known better, and told me the truth, I would have held off on the epi, as I had tod him myself: "I would rather die than to have something happen to my baby". In the end, my worst nightmares were realised.

Now, not every epi will be as disastrous as mine, but just keep it in mind, if you have the option. I definitely would suggest to any labouring woman to wait and see how painful labour truly is, before getting it. In many instances, you may be pleasantly surprised that you can have an unmedicated birth, just as our forebears did.

THe situation is somewhat different if you are being induced, because then, the contractions usually come hard and fast, and you do not have the time to adjust to the pain. Which is why I suggest to anyone to avoid an induction at all costs, unless absolutely medically indicated. Definitely, I think that going for an induction because of a "preferred date" or timing is a definite risk. MD'S shoudl not carry out inductions unless medically indicated, because you are "messing around" with nature. And every intervention has an effect.

Franny7 - I just read about your birth experience - sounds really traumatic - so sorry you had to go through that.

I also agree with the importance of informed consent and wasn't told anything or asked to sign anything when I had my epidural although I had put that I would probably want one in my birth plan.

I think it's definitely worth researching everything as well as possible before you're actually in labour because once you're there it's easy to feel like you're not in control. I went to an extra antenatal class specifically about common interventions.

Even you try to find out about risk it's very difficult to judge risks relative to one another. I used as a baseline, risk of stillbirth = 1/400 and risk of SIDS = 1/4000 to get some perspective when people started talking about the risks of interventions which are usually far less than these. It's also worth knowing the risk of maternal death in childbirth (world average approx 4 maternal deaths for every 1000 live births) which I believe is vastly less in the developed world (more like 1 for every 10,000 live births) due to the life-saving interventions that we have on offer. Don't knock them - they're great!

For most people, having a baby hurts a lot and the epidural is there as a safe way to relieve that pain. I don't think anyone should be forced into having one or not having one or feel guilty for their decision either way. Many of the side effects of epidural are minor, temporary and treatable.
I'm a big fan of anaesthesia... imagine any branch of medicine without it!! :)

PS sarahsarah7 - I got the catheter after the epidural and didn't feel a thing - can't understand why they'd do it any other way. Shocking.
I did not have my epidural turned down at the end and the delivery was painless.
I also don't see why you can't refuse the fetal monitoring? I liked it because it was making sure the baby was OK but if you prefer not to the doctors shouldn't be able to force you to have it.
I think you're right to be flexible but awful to be told that the anaesthetist is going home and you have to make a decision! I don't see why you can't get it set up though. The midwife actually topped up for me and I could have stopped asking for top ups and gone without the pain relief if I'd wanted to. I didn't need the anaesthetist again once the epidural was in place.

I also had the catheter (during and after labor). Honestly though, I think up until I got the epidural, the most painful part of labor was getting the darn thing! My back bone is very compressed so it took the anesthesiologist a while to get it (and a few tries) - I was so ready to say, "just leave me the hell alone and I'll labor without it!" until she finally got it. Not only did I hate that part, I hated having the catheter put in, I hated not having control of my legs, etc. But, my cervix is very difficult to reach, so getting checked was really really painful. So, I guess everyone just has to make sure they ask a lot of questions, be well informed, and weigh your options. You more than anyone know your how well you tolerate pain (unless it's your first baby, then you really don't know what to expect!).

I was told that fetal monitoring was necessary with the epidural because baby's HR could drop unexpectedly. My epi was not turned down at all. It remained the same. I was given pitocin, so toward the end, I could feel the painful contractions getting worse. I felt a lot of pressure and they said that was good - it would be my indicator of when to push. Pushing was painless (down there), but it was just a lot of work for me (until I got the episiotomy and like magic, she was out in half a push!).

Abi, most md's will refuse to let you have an epi without a fetal monitor, precisely because there are certain risks. It all kind of becomes a vicious circle, IMO. If you have consistent fetal monitoring, then you cannot move about much. Normally, something as simple as labouring in a tub or shower, walking up and down the hall, can get the baby to move, push down on the cervix, help with dilation, and so forth.

Also, the epi, in my experience, can slow down contractions, so they are less strong.

If you are stuck then, almost flat on your back (a slight incline is maintained to make sure that the epi does not flow the wrong way, and gravity works to keep it from the lumbar spine down, so it does not paralyze you waist up), it is one of the WORST and most INEFFICIENT positions to be in.

Because your contractions will have been dulled, then the problem is that you do not feel, really, how fast the baby is or is not moving down the birth canal, and you cannot tell, for example, if your perineum is being stretched, or torn, or whatever. So, I had a 3rd degree tear with my first one, requiring stitches. If I had been more sensitive, I am sure that I would not have pushed at the wrong moment, which is what caused the tear!

Here is alink to another post on Homebirth. Anyone interested in seeing detailed, "crowning" pics as the baby comes out, to see what actually happens, is welcome to send me a pm with your e-mail address, and I will get you these more detailed pics.
http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Pregnancy/forum/8165565-homebirth.

I also encourage you to read my thread on Maternal Mortality in the US being the HIGHEST in decades...I am convinced, as the article seems to indicate, that this is because of the multiplication of UNNECESSARY medical procedures....each procedure is more money for the doctor and the hospital, in general.

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Pregnancy/forum/8139157-maternal-mortality-rate

In 2004, 540 women died in the US from maternal related causes. The maternal death rate in 2004 was 13 per 100,000, and climbing. That means 1.3 women out of 10000 die.