Hi everyone. A couple moms have written in asking whether or not I would advise getting an epidural so in this video, I am just going to describe my experiences with epidural childbirth, which I went through three times, with my second, fourth and fifth baby.
Giving Birth With Epidural
For me, getting the epidural was a bit frightening to be honest, and in my video, I explain why. In terms of the pain, as labor advanced, I did have less pain in the deliveries where I had had an epidural than I had without it. However, once the baby was actually coming and I was pushing, the contractions still hurt quite a bit. I remember saying to myself: you know what, this pain isn't quite so different than the pain I experienced during natural childbirth. Something to keep in mind. If you're trying to decide what to do, definitely ask around and see what your mom friends about their experiences.
When thinking about whether or not you want to get pain medication during childbirth, your threshold for pain is an important factor. The duration of your labor also plays a huge role, because 30 minutes of labor is nothing like 30 hours of labor! Plus, if labor seems to be advancing quickly, you might want to forego the epidural because your doctor might say that getting the epidural will slow things down. Some of things are not things you can plan for, and you have to be prepared for the fact that your situation might change your prior views about what you want to do! For more of what I went through and my impressions of how the epidural affects pain during childbirth, watch my video.
In terms of post-partum pain after the epidural, I did have some numbness the next day, which for me meant less postpartum pain than when I had NOT gotten the epidural.
Remember that very woman's labor is a totally unique experience, and no one knows what it feels like to be in your body and what you're dealing with. There are many people who argue that an epidural can make for a more enjoyable birth experience because the mom is in less pain and more present. It all depends and I believe in respecting our different choices.
Moms, did you have an epidural or not? How was your childbirth experience. If you experienced giving birth with an epidural, please weigh in on cloudmom.com to share your experiences and thank you so much for watching!
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