![]() As such, I was prepared for an unmedicated pregnancy. "I'm a fairly "crunchy" gal, gravitating to holistic wellness. I knew I needed my 'nap' before my life was going to change all over again."- Stephanie, 34Ĥ. With my second child, as soon as I was admitted, I asked for the epidural right away because I knew what to expect. With the epidural, I was able to finally sleep before a long night of pushing. I had relief very quickly and didn’t feel pain again until after it wore off post-birth. It took a few minutes for the epidural to work but, to me, it was totally worth it. It was also nerve-wracking because while you're getting the epidural you’re also going through contractions, but you need to stay perfectly still while it happens. The numbing was awful because it felt like a terrible burning sensation down my back. The worst part of an epidural is the numbing before the epidural is administered - though the needle injection in your back is no joke either. But, real talk, I just couldn’t do it! After being awake for more than 30 hours, I needed a break. "With my first, I wanted to try to have a drug-free birth if possible. You can't move once the epidural is administered. You feel the poking and prodding, and the tube threading down your back initially, but once the medicine begins to work, it feels like the puppet strings have been cut, and you're dancing away like Pinocchio. ![]() Getting an epidural feels like being a sock puppet, and the anesthesiologist is the puppeteer. Yes, you are getting a getting a small tube inserted near your spine via a not-so-tiny needle, but that is not the worst part. "I got my first epidural in 2016 and it was not as scary or painful as most women make it seem. I loved my epidural and would pre-order it for my next baby if I could."- Rosalin, 37Ģ. They say you forget everything about labor after you have a baby, but that is not true. I had to hold still for 15 minutes with contractions happening every two minutes. Who wants to go through the worst pain of your life? I have scoliosis so the administrator had to put the needle in both my left and right sides of my spine. I knew it was something that I wanted the second I found out I was pregnant. "I had an epidural after 15 hours of labor. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to playġ. Here, eight women who went through labor epidurals describe their experiences. Ma says that the whole process shouldn't take more than ten minutes. Once the needle is in place, the anesthesiologist will insert a catheter and remove the needle. You may feel pressure as the epidural needle is inserted into the right spot, but you shouldn't feel the actual needle. Once you've been numbed, you won't feel the epidural needle inserted into your back. "From the patient perspective, the numbing medicine feels like a bee-sting," she explains. Edna Ma, an anesthesiologist and mother of two who also had two labor epidurals as a patient, explains that epidurals usually happen when a patient is about 4 cm dilated during labor. Labor can be painful! As the American Society of Anesthesiologists and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have said, "There is no other circumstance where it is considered acceptable for an individual to experience untreated severe pain, amenable to safe intervention, while under a physician's care." While some mothers may opt for drug-free births using lamaze, acupuncture, or massage, many mothers chose epidurals - pain medication delivered through a catheter inserted near your spine - to manage their labor pains.ĭr. The CDC reports that around 61% of women opt for epidural or spinal anesthesia during vaginal birth, and it's not a surprise why.
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