Going natural vs getting epi

I am on the fence about which way to go. On one hand, getting an epidural will ease the pain and I would have a lesser stressed delivery, but going natural means no catheter (my biggest fear) and I have heard that recovery is so much quicker, although I do not know if this is true. Can I hear some of your opinions about this, especially those of you who have been through delivery and have had either type? Thanks!!1

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

i have struggled with this my entire pregnancy and i have decided, after doing my research, that i am going to try my hardest to go drug-free. i just do not see any reason why i can't, because i know that no matter how painful the contractions can be, they will not last forever. other than "why not" my other reasons for not wanting the epi, or anything else, is: risk of complications, having to get a catheter, and slowing down the advancement of labor.

there are some wonderful women on the parenting board who may be able to help you better than i can, this is the thread i posted last week:

Link

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

My plan right now is to have a natural birth. However, I am not going to be a martyr. There is also a good chance I will need a c-section, so then my plans of a natural birth are down the drain anyway.

My mom did it natural both times and she said that a couple of hours later she felt totally back to normal, there was no recovery at all.

Message edited 8/11/2008 12:48:58 PM.

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

Friends who have gone natural say it's not 'as bad' as your mind makes you fear it to be, and they seem to feel like themselves quickly - ........SO, I'm going to give it a go, and if I can't take the pain, I'll get the epi -

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

Epi

I want to concentrate on having the baby and then later taking care of her

I will not lie.

I am a freaking WUSS!

Gimme the good stuff, doc!

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

My plan is to go natural for some reason getting a needle in my spine freaks me out mostly because of any complications etc. I will try and see what happens.

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I'm going to go for the epi.

The SMALLEST baby this genreation in my family was 8lbs 6oz and the largest was 10 lbs 10oz - no one had GD, apparently we just have big babies.

I applaud women who go naturally, but I am too much of a wimp to go theat route.

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

If women can do it naturally I think that is great.

I know I could not have done it. The catheter was not a big deal at all..never ever felt it. I think the worst part for me was the IV actually! I hate getting IV's. When that was over, I was fine.

Having my water broken and the epi were the other two unpleasant but not awful things.

You will have to see how you tolerate the pain of labor. It is one of those experiences that you can try to imagine but have no clue till you're going through it.

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

I'm going for the epi too.

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I had 3 kids, 2 no epi (not by choice) and # 3 epi... and well, with #4 I a getting an epi (if possible)

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I will try to see how long I can go without needing the epi. Once it gets bad, I have no problems asking for the epi.

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

I had a drug-free delivery and my recovery was very easy. The main reason I wanted to go drug-free was to minimize my chances of complications. As long as baby and I were healthy and labor was progressing normally, there was no need to introduce any other varialbles.

If you really want to go drug-free, you should try to set yourself up for success as much as possible, which means taking part in some type of natural childbirth class (like Bradley or Hypnobabies -- Lamaze doesn't cut it in most cases) and get a practitioner who supports drug-free labor -- that makes all the difference -- it will be much harder to go drug-free if you have an OB who insists on strapping you to the bed with a monitor and an IV and if you have a nurse popping in every 10 min to ask if you're ready for your epidural yet.

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I am going for the epi. I'm not scared of the needle simply as long as I dont see it (Out of sight out of mind).

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Re: Going natural vs getting epi

So, from the reading I've done and the DVDs I've watched here are the apparent pros and cons of each:

Pro-Epi:
obviously, you don't feel pain!
No pain= you can rest-up for pushing
In rare instances (where a woman is 9cm and no longer progressing) an epi can help her relax which then lets her dilate to 10cm and begin pushing

Epi-Cons:
Epis can stall labor. you're progressing (dilating, contractions getting stronger)... you get your Epi, and it almost always slows progression... but sometimes it stops it all together! (this is especially true if you get it early on... say below 6-7cm dilated. Then they need to give you pictocin to ramp up your contractions... but this drug produces much longer and stronger contractions and can occassionally cause fetal distress, which then forces you to get an emergency c-section. Obviously this doesn't happen all of the time, but some people point to the common use of Epi's and subsequently pictocin as the 'reason' why the C-section rate in the US is more than double (about 35-40% vs less than 20%) other industrialized countries.

If you get an Epi, you have to stay in bed because your legs are numb and you have a catheter. This is a problem becuase labor progresses much better if mom is vertical (and gravity is working with you) and walking occassionally. If you're in bed, the slight upwards tilt in your pelvis means you're actually working AGAINST gravity..

When you get an Epi, it's much more difficult to push becuase you're numb... which then increases the risk you need a vacuum or forceps assisted birth (and necessitates an episiotomy)

All that being said, I'm going to try to go natural if I can... I will at least try to go without an epi as long as I can and have labor progress to an advanced stage... since I'm a first time mom, I have no idea how labor will feel to me, so I'm keeping my options open......

oh, one more epi-con:

epi-administration gone wrong=spinal headache! If the anaesthesiologist accidentally nicks your dura while giving an epi, you may begin to leak spinal fluid... Within a day or so, you'll get a RAGING headache (migrane-quality) that only goes away if you are laying horizontal... the headache can last a couple weeks, or until your dura heals..... this means you will have to stay horizontal instead of taking care of baby!

Frankly, the catheter or IV are not worries to me at all... but the small risk of spinal headache definitely is! That would incapacitate me. This will be my motivation to try to stay drug-free

Message edited 8/11/2008 1:34:53 PM.

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

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Re: Going natural vs getting epi

team Epi all the way!!!

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I know I've joked saying when I call the doctor that I am on my way to the hospital notify the guy who administers the Epi so we get to the room at the same time, but in all honesty I am going to try to hold out for as long as I can. I do want the Epi if it gets unbearable, but I will try to work with the pain instead of against it.

We'll see how things flow.

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

Re: Going natural vs getting epi

If I don't have to have a c-section, I'm going to try as hard as I can to go drug free. If it is completely unbearable or if my doc thinks an epi is in the best interest of the baby, I'll do it.

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I didn't have an epi and I gave birth to a 9lb+ baby. If I had to do it again, I'd do it the same way. For me, I was afraid of the side effects that can come with an epi. I decided that I'd rather deal with the pain during childbirth and be done with it than risk being in pain afterwards for who knows how long.

My ob/gyn said based on what he heard about my birth (he didn't deliver me) I probably would have wound up with a c-section if I had an epi because my contractions never really came faster than a few minutes apart as it is, and the epi may have slowed them down even more. They gave me pitocin to speed them up and even then they didn't come on very fast.

I said it in the thread that headoverheels linked in her post - you can do it without the drugs as long as you have a decent threshhold for pain and can really focus through it. If you're extremely stubborn and strong willed by nature you probably can do it (that's what got me through). But this isn't a decision you make until you're in the moment because anything can happen.

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Epi all the way. I'm a huge wimp.

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After doing this a few times, my best advice would be to go in open minded, especially if you are on the fence about epi/drugs. The cath is no big deal and it is necessary if your bladder is full, you cant push the baby past a full bladder. Sometimes things go beyond our control, so the best thing is to take it only step(hour) at a time, and do what your body tells you to do.