How painful is childbirth with an epidural?

You can’t feel a thing with an epidural hun! It literally numbs you. It’s so strange. Your that numb you don’t even know if your pushing or not 😂 you’ll be fine!

Also I hated gas and air. I had one puff and that was it I hated it. I went through the whole labour without anything because they wouldn’t listen to me when I told them my contractions are so close. Then a couple hours later the consultant checked my cervix and told me I was fully dilated. The only reason I ended up having an epidural was because my body was exhausted and my son was getting distressed so they took me into theatre , gave me an epidural and had forceps. But the epidural was AMAZING!

You can't feel contractions with an epidural the midwives will tell you when to push. I had an epidural and felt no pain but I felt the urge to push. I can't be different for every woman but definitely talk to your midwife about it x

No pain, I only felt burning when I was stretching when pushing the head out

My contraction pain stopped immediately with the epidural. Like I had a sensation but no pain. My baby got stuck though and was in OP (sunny side up position) and that did hurt. I ended up having an emergency c section. But like still, considering what happened the pain was not excruciating, which speaks volumes for the epidural. I definitely think the epidural helped a ton. Also my pushes didn’t hurt at all until my baby got stuck. I could feel them, and he was descending substantially but there was literally no pain.

Omg if only they’d listened to you in the first place! But thank you, it’s reassuring that it works that well - I’m just hoping I’ll be able to get one as have heard stories from colleagues about them going into labour and there being no one on the ward qualified to administer an epidural 😳🙏

my epidural did not work. i’m having a homebirth with a pool this time instead as i think that natural oxytocin is the best pain relief

I got the epidural and had NO PAIN. I felt when I needed to push and I only pushed for 8 minutes and had no tearing. It helped so much. I went through 6 hours of back labor before getting the epidural

I had epidural it was the best thing ever. It let my body relax and i dialated from 2cm-10cm in 20 mins. I had been stuck at 2cm but my body was in active labour until i got it.

Ive had one with it and one without and you dont get any medals for doing it without so you might aswell 😂

Epidural was heaven. I had a FIVE day labor (induction) - got that thing on day 5 and it was the first time I got any rest, finally couldn’t feel a thing. Lucky as well, it ended in an emergency c-section so didn’t have to have a spinal or general because the epidural already numbed everything

Oh my goodness the epridural is a god send!!! Thats all I have to say! I couldn't feel a thing! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

The epidural takes away all pain IF done right but personally it put me a terrible mental state. I wanted a nonmedicated birth but my water broke early and I had to do pitocin so I took the epidural, if you get pitocin it balances itself out but the epidural by itself can slow down the process and cause the baby to get stuck resulting in a c section. That was my biggest fear when I got it but everything went smoothly and I couldn't feel anything. I'm a woman who likes to be in control and the epidural takes away any kind of control and it was worse for me to not feel anything than to feel my contractions. At the end of the day the epidural did allow me to rest after 24 hours of unmedicated labor and I pushed for 2 hours so I'm glad I didn't have to deal with that pain. Next time I'm still going to prepare for an epidural free birth because for me it's not what I want. It also gave me a backache 5 months pp and I still have really bad back pinches from it. But everyone is different do what you feel is best

Have a look at hypnobirthing - ignore all the "woo" talk if you're not into that, but the theory is to calm you, your body and mind and keep you calm during the process. It's helped me massively as I too was really scared and stressing about giving birth! I look at it completely differently now and feel less stressed about it 😊 will let you know in August if it helps with pain though! 🥹😅

What I can advise is learn some natural ways to help with the pain just in case you can't get the epidural for some reason. I dont care what people say about it but in the end it really is mind over matter. I had contractions for 24 hrs and I would have continued the unmedicated route if my water hadnt broken early because I was super educated on unmedicated childbirth and knew how to make it less painful. Also research about the epidural and the pros and cons and talk to your doctor or midwife about it and make an informed decision on what's best for you and your baby

Try just gas and air before you jump to an epidural. I’ve only had gas and air with mine which my first was 9lb9 and I was 17 lol I also ended up with an emergency C-section with my 5th but planning on natural again with gas and air.

you just got to keep taking it lol I didn’t want them to take it even after I’d given birth 😂

I had the epidural with my first and it well amazing 🥰 I'll be doing it again with my second 🥰

Everyone experiences birth differently and everyone has different pain thresholds etc. I gave birth in Jan 2023 and had an epidural. Mine worked perfectly and completely numbed me from waist down, did not feel a thing. I think for some people, they still feel ‘pressure’ rather than pain, or may feel things on one side rather than the other depending on how they react xx

Didn’t want an epidural but had to have one as induction pain was more than I could cope with, could feel pressure but no pain at all.
I used gas and air to begin with and honestly I think it knocked me out so much I don’t remember anything. I will still try again with just gas and air and avoid epidural if I can, didn’t enjoy not being able to move or do anything for myself.

Not painful at all for me atleast and the epidural did not hurt whatsoever for me

I would NEVER recommend epidural to anyone! 😩
That thing just made my first labour worse as it felt like the pain doubled and my legs were shaking all through (they said it was part of the after effects).

I felt more pain and till today, my back has not healed properly as that thing can give you long lasting back pain if you don't know how to allow it heal after birthing with it 😢


For this second labour, I'm going all natural and diligently praying nothing goes wrong to warrant a c section. I will take all the gas they give me. But NEVER considering epidural before I lose my spine from back pain 😢

I had one (unwillingly) with my first, due to him getting stuck and possibly needing a C section. Personally i absolutely hated it. I hated not being able to feel what was happening. When they told me to push they said I was pushing all wrong and made me feel a bit crap.
Obviously everyone is different and has different experiences. You got to do whats right for you 🙏

I'm also on my first pregnancy so have nothing to add on epidurals, but wanted to say that I think if anyone makes you feel bad for 'not going natural' that's more about them than you. You know your body and your pain tolerance. It's an amazing thing to be able to make and carry a baby and then to give birth to it! Women are dismissed in so many ways and one of those is the sense that it 'should' be natural to give birth. Do you think men would have any of it if they had to do the equivalent of peeing a watermelon?! 😂

I have failed epidural, so half my body numb and the other half is painful, i mean really painful (especially after the put dripping on me because no progress) but at the end i can make it and baby born but my body just half - half 🥲. Natural, epidural, c section this just how you have your baby, I don’t care what people say as we the one have the experience and they can say what they want but you have your own choice