Epidural

How come you had an appointment with an anaesthesiologist? Is that a thing?
If you don't want one, don't have one. And don't feel pressured. Advocate for yourself xx

Don't feel pressured into having anything you don't want. I managed with gas & air & pethidine & this time I'm going to try just gas & air, it made me completely out of it babies heartbeat was dropping & had to have medical intervention. The midwife wouldn't believe I was far as I was & wouldn't give me gas & air until I was fully dilated 🤦🏻‍♀️ this time il put my foot down. See how you get on you manage fine 🙂 x

women with high BMIs can get an appointment with an anaesthetist to discuss an epidural, on my notes I have a sticker advising the anaesthetist should be contacted immediately on my arrival to the hospital to get an epidural done ASAP as it can be harder to administer in women who are more overweight. I have an appointment on the 17th of January at my hospital to see them 😊

I went over my birth plan yesterday & midwife advised I could stay at home for as long as I wanted provided I was only getting contractions and my water hadn’t broken yet. The anaesthesit should be contacted immediately upon my arrival to the hospital so they can successfully administer my epidural on time.

I’m a first time mum and there’s absolutely no chance I’m giving birth without an epidural, you don’t get extra rewards for being in pain during childbirth so I’m not going down that route. I want childbirth to be as stress and as pain free as possible and discussed all my concerns re epidurals with my midwife yesterday & have an appointment to see the anethesist later this month

Getting sick and tired of trying to spell that word so ignore my spelling of it 😂😂

If you don't want one, you don't have to have one. If you change your mind on the day and want one, then you can! It's your body and your labour

Yeah I was adamant I wasn’t having one as I managed just on gas and air in my first labour and it was luckily quite a fast and easy one. Having this conversation today has just thrown a bit of a spanner in the works and made me wonder “what if it’s not that easy this time” 😂 got an appointment with the midwife soon to discuss my birth plan so will be talking through it then too. thanks everyone x

I’d say, just go as long as you can without it and then opt for it if it gets too much for you. That’s what I’m going. I’m not making my mind up now. Ideally I don’t want anything other than gas and air really but I know that if I’m faltering and I feel like baby will get the best out of me having a bit more energy from not being in pain, then I’ll have it done.

My other worry is nerve damage/bruising. A couple of people I know who have had it with at least one of their babies has ended up with numbness or aching in their back from up to two years afterwards and because I competitively powerlift, I really don’t want to risk that with my back.

Ultimately it’s up to you but this sounds like you’d prefer to avoid it unless absolutely necessary and that is totally fine. You can just choose on the day when in the moment. And if a midwife refuses to let you have it, ask for a second opinion before going along with their recommendation x