how many ladies have had good experience with epidural? on babycenter, i have read mixed views. some women say epidural makes you tear even more and recovery is much more painful. but on the other hand, unmedicated birth must be excruciatingly painful as well. if you had to go through labor again, would you choose epidural or give birth without it? im still in my first trimester but want to prepare myself mentally and learn the pros and cons from those who have experienced it.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
listen to your family doctor.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
I took epidural both times. I had a 3rd degree tear first time but second time was much better. Even with third degree tear I was fine in a week. Second time I was up and about the next day and had no pain.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Talk to your doctor about it. I had a terrible experience with epidural. My BP dropped really rapidly and consequently my baby’s heart rate, but that isn’t a common side effect. Many people are completely fine with it.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Family doctor ya obgyn?
Bella I would advice you to go in with an open mind. Anything can happen! Take one step at a time and see how it goes. If the pain gets too unbearable you’ll be asking for an epidural yourself (or not, but either way just go in with no expectations).
I labored for 16 hours without an epidural, after being induced!!! It was horrible and when I finally asked for that epi and got it … it felt like I was in heaven!!! 
I even fell asleep! It was amazing.
With my second baby I asked for the epidural shortly after getting admitted. I loved it! No side effects here. I barely teared this time and only pushed for about 10 minutes 
Honestly, every pregnancy and delivery is so different and all we can do is to share out experiences here. So go in with an open mind, jo hoga wo dekha jayega. 
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Plenty of women get epidurals and manage to give birth without tearing or needing to be cut. It depends on YOUR size, the baby’s size, how you’re pushing etc. Please do not that the not getting an epidural is someone ensuring less tearing or no tearing. Also keep in mind that everyone deals with pain differently. Fatso above was fine after a week with a 3rd degree tear. I have friends who had 2nd degree tears and was in excruciating pain (ie. need to take prescription pain meds) for almost a month. So what’s excruciatingly painful to one person may be bearable to another.
Speaking of getting cut, plenty of OBs don’t even let you tear naturally and will perform a episiotomy if they suspect you will tear. So this is something you need to discuss with your OB. Find out his thoughts on episiotomy and whether he prefers a surgical incision over a natural tear.
Keep in mind, if you do NOT get an epidural and still tear, you’ll feel that. And IF you tear and did not get an epidural, you will also feel them injecting you with local anesthetic afterwards. Recovery will still be the same.
No matter what you decide, go in with an open mind. You may decide that you do not want an epidural but once labor starts, the pain may be too much. Do your research and talk to your OB about your concerns and wishes. But please remember that labor is unpredictable and things don’t always go as planned.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
you wont know until you go through it!
I was in labor for 30 hours, 8 cm dilated when I asked for epi.. I was told that I was almost done but I begged them to give me epi.. they did! I didn’t do well, very low blood pressure, shivers, almost unconscious, baby’s heart beat dropped and I was rushed to the OR for emergency csection! I was told repeatedly that it wasn’t because of epidural but that’s just how things went for me after being so long in labor.. I don’t know what to make out of it..I could care less since I had the baby healthy and fine and my recovery wasn’t bad either.
Second time around, my water broke two weeks early, didn’t dilate at all, had no contractions whatsoever, walked over to the OR for csection and had my baby within 5 hours from start to end. Recovery wasn’t bad either but definitely tougher than the first one. (add in a toddler and an infection in incisions) but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how I gave birth, I love my kids with all my heart and would do it again in a heart beat 
( from my experience, I hate pregnancy but don’t mind labor :D)
so there you go, you never know.. I love the mystery of birth.. the anticipation, the contractions, every pain, discomfort that gets you closer to seeing your baby.. magical
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Yes to what everyone’s saying.
Someone I know gave birth to a 4.5 lb baby full term, and still had an episiotomy and her recovery was pretty painful. There’s just no predicting anything- an open mind is all you need. What will be, will be. In the end, all of us come home with a healthy baby inshallah and that is really the goal of going in there, isn’t it?
I got the epidural at 3 cms. They broke my water, I couldn’t handle the pain, I was induced as well and I have super low pain tolerance. 15 hours later I still ended up in the OR having an emergency C because he was stuck. So yeah.
medicated birth or all natural?
Keep an open mind with no preconceived notions!! You’ll never know what you need/can do until you are going through it. With my eldest I went completely natural…no epidural, no episiotomy needed…it was a very quick labor and delivery from start to finish and I didn’t need the epidural. I also have a very very high tolerance and threshold for pain though after dealing with debilitating endometriosis for years.
With my twins, it was understood that I would have a double c section because of their positions but I went from 4 cm to baby A crowning in 10 minutes…no epidural there either he was born so fast…I had to have a complete spinal block and emergency csection to get baby b out, since both amniotic sacs had ruptured and they didn’t want to risk turning him.
Either way, the goal should only be a safe and healthy delivery and baby…getting an epidural won’t make you any less of a women or mother
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Gemi I your first one is alot like mine. Except I laboured very fast and they didn’t check how dilated I was. I got epi at fully dilated and ended up in EMCS. 
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
guess what…NOT having an epidural doesn’t make you any more or better of a mother than someone who didn’t…
not that anyone here is being judgy like that, but I’ve seen some weird posts in other places about women who think they’re better than everyone else because they chose not to have an epidural.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Why the family doc? Why not ob/gyn?
I had epidural, however I had to go for a c section as my son could not pass through, his head was big (lol) and he went in distress.
Ditto to what Sara said!
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
Other than epidural, what other pain medications are usually given or can be?
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
I don’t know how many of you are lucky enough to have same doctor who treated your parents as well.
That sort of doctor knows your body’s limits.
I had doctors in the family, unwillingly I was exposed to parts of the discussions about our own women going through labor 
I am not comfortable with idea women doing any thing out of the ordinary.
And to all you women 
Much respect!!
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
There’s morphine and then there’s laughing gas. I think morphine is the only other option in North America whereas both are offered in the UK. Morphine, however, passes through to the baby, which is why they don’t usually encourage it. I also know they don’t offer it to you past the initial stages of labour, and if you get too much then your baby is born a little high and a little dazed. Laughing gas makes you kooky lol but, hey, whatever it takes to give birth! Its definitely not a walk in the park 
I don’t know if the gas is passed on to the baby though.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
No one knows your body’s limits but you. You make the call, not your doctor. All your Ob/Gyn can do is to advice you. A family doctor is not specialized in this field so I wouldn’t suggest you discussing pain relief concerns during labor with your family practitioner 
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
I also don’t think that- respectfully, of course- men should be allowed to dictate what the women in their lives choose to do re: labour and delivery. As an observer, you have NO idea what it’s really like so stay out of it. Be supportive of whatever she decides and keep mum otherwise.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
i would like as least pain as possible.. i know thats not possible with any kind of birth but im a wimp when it comes to pain. my SIL had a great experience with epi but a friend of mine said it didn’t work for her. i guess its till too soon for me to be freaking out about it.
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
no vagina, no opinion. 
Re: medicated birth or all natural?
^LOL