If You're Planning an Epidural

[@Elizabeth11.11]

I was 100% paralyzed for 8 hours with no movement or feeling, it was terrifying. I’ll never do it again. I’m on day 3 with tingles in my feet still

[@yobestfrien]

5 months later after losing my child and having given birth by epidural… my legs, face arms and back go numb several times a week. Literally had to be put on muscle relaxers and my back is very tense & swollen like due to it. I barely sleep and it’s hard to bend over and pick items up. It’s not fun, espically in my case where I still have the pain + after LOSING my child. Forget the headaches : fevers… i didn’t even have my epidural in for more than 1.5hrs. Plan ahead & try naturally. I would hate to see more woman dealing with these nasty, negative issues. They HIT MY BONE & my whole spine feels as though it’s crooked and i am no longer able to stretch, crack or massage my back bone any longer. I hope as is well for you 💙🥺

[@pricesymonej]

@@yobestfrien oh wow, I do hope you find some solutions.

[@dianaaugustine5438]

@@yobestfrien I’m so sorry that happened to you. Are you feeling better? I had a similar situation. I labored unmedicated for 12 hours before ending up in an emergency c-section. They did a spinal block on me and it took the guy many tries to get it it. The pain in my back was excruciating, so much worse than the contractions. I could feel him hitting bones and nerves and I was screaming. I feel traumatized. I had pain, swelling, and bruising in that spot and in the nerves down to my pelvis for months afterward, but I didn’t have a choice. It was do this or my baby dies. I don’t ever want to go through that again.

[@Aftynwatkins]

No hate to the mamas that choose the relief but I did it natural my first labor ( First nurse said I arrived WAYY too early, go home, take ibuprofen & rest in a warm bath to relieve the pain and tension and then come in when my contractions are 3-1-1) however, they were 5-1-1 [varying slightly] and my water broke 15 minutes after she discharged me, luckily we didnt leave the hospital and we walked right back in , labored naturally for a few hours & and then delivered 8:47pm on 03/06/18

[@astridsloan58]

What a lovely woman and so helpful. Thank you Penny!! X

[@erinw5272]

Penny, Love love love these videos. You have a wonderful way of explaining things and I love your dedication to knowing the evidence. would love to see you tackle some of the induction related topics- coping, how it differs, etc.

[@aaliahfuller1609]

I’m having my first child soon and i was thinking about epidural I just pray everything goes good i never had back problems or anything. Never had problems just been an healthy woman . 🙏🏾🥺😩

[@betterbirth52]

Find a doula to support your birth.

[@aaliahfuller1609]

@@betterbirth52 I been okay now I had my baby 5 months ago

[@fabiennecadet6993]

@@aaliahfuller1609 your lucky I got mine 18 months ago I still have really bad back pain

[@aaliahfuller1609]

@@fabiennecadet6993 aww im sorry to hear that and yah everyone body is different I haven’t had any problems since 7 months ago

[@carlybaldwin4537]

Love Penny Simkin. So glad my doula introduced me to her

[@ashleymarie6585]

I prayed to god for 5 hours to get the epidural, I finally got it and it failed. Ended up going through it all on oxytocin and a Foley catheter with NO pain relief.

[@MrsBryant1024]

Why didn't it work for you??? That's crazy luv. They should have given you another one. What happened?

[@Fun_reading_with_kids]

Great information! Thank you!

[@anamariaperilla7003]

She is lovely !!

[@charlettahappy4303]

What are your options if you have to much aminic fluid and are 38 weeks, starting to feel pain from tightness? Can you be induced?

[@tilaw6397]

Thank u, very useful & reassuring 😊❤️

[@dianaparisi3867]

I might sound dumb but I didn't even know epidurals numbs your legs too and you can't move them

[@karenberhow7483]

Diana Parisi yes, you will be numb from the point on your spine where they injected you and then downward. So women with epidurals cannot get up and move around at all. They also will need to have a catheter inserted into their bladders to drain urine.

[@dianaparisi3867]

@@karenberhow7483 I might sound silly but I thought the movement is prohibited only because you need to stay in bed because there are more risks with an epidural. Not that I was thinking of getting one, no way I'm letting anyone stick a huge needle in my spine and risk having a paralysis

[@karenberhow7483]

Diana Parisi you don’t sound silly, if you don’t know you don’t know! I am a Doula, and I would say about 1/3 of my clients end up getting an epidural. We just do our best to delay it for as long as we can. And many women find that, in doing that, they are able to avoid one altogether. Just about the time they’re thinking about getting one, and they are already 10 cm dilated and ready to push the baby out!

[@dianaparisi3867]

@@karenberhow7483 Thank you Karen!! 1/3 is good. I thought that like 90% of women take it. All women 35 and under that I know had one.

[@karenberhow7483]

Diana Parisi I think 90% is probably correct overall. But most women who hire a doula are at least thinking about trying to labor without one. Some end up with one. A lot of times it is because they have very long labors and just need some sleep!

[@cathy3708]

How long do they last

[@mimimgl2557]

Thanks for the info 🙏.

[@jessiebartels6911]

thank you very much.

[@dominiqueviljoen6880]

Thank you

[@kmacleod29]

What are your credentials? Nurse?

[@TeaCup1940]

Epidural should only be used in cesarian births or if there really is a medical need for it. In a normal and natural birth the epidural is really not necessary. Pain in childbirth is normal and to be endured, it is not there to be avoided. Suffering is part of motherhood anyways.

[@Kmakmizzle]

A Dr. either overdosed me or missed or it was the anesthesia but I suffered extreme side effects and got dismissed from treatment. The Dr. Made moves I am not even aware of. The overdose unlocked memories which were blocked somehow about what prisoners in jail REALLY go through. It's Cellphone Tower Mind Control MK Ultra 5G! It's going on OUT HERE too. I was inside of The MK Ultra memory dream. I THOUGHT....It felt like I was actually there. I was inside of The Game Nobody Knows. I beat the game. That whole existence stayed in my vision as I opened my eyes in bed. That reality unlinked from my open eye vision into a screen which dematerialized into my head and I was fully awake. I had snapped my eyes instantly open from being within that realm. It was worse than The Matrix.

[@Kmakmizzle]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWinlIqXq92ei7s

[@sufenta67]

I would like to add that a lot depends on how busy the anesthesia provider is on the rest of the unit. Frequently, I was not busy at all and I could very finely tune the epidural to suit the situation at hand...even to the point of having what was known as a walking epidural. Some patients could get all the way through labor with just a very low concentration of local anesthetic.....the variability of pain from one woman to another is HUGE....not unlike how woman experience both menses and menopause. Other times, when I was very busy and I knew that I was likely going to be unavailable to modify the epidural, I would dose the epidural a little heavier, wanting to err on the side of keeping the patient comfortable. Another advantage to having an epidural that is frequently not mentioned is that if you have a well functioning epidural in place and there is a need for an emergency CS, the epidural can be dosed with a higher concentration so that a CS can be performed without the need for a general anesthetic. In many institutions, if a woman is at high risk for an emergency CS but wants to try a vaginal delivery, an epidural is placed for just this purpose alone.

[@dianaaugustine5438]

Thanks for the info! I’m considering this in the future. I labored unmedicated for 12 hours without feeling the need for medication. Then I had to have a c-section for fetal heart-rate issues. At which point I was 6cm and shaking. They had such a hard time placing the spinal block. I was told I would just feel pressure, but that was not at all the case. I would have rated contraction pain at a 5/10. Receiving that spinal was a 9/10. He was digging around scraping my bones and hitting nerves that sent fire down to my pelvis. I was screaming and vomiting in pain. I feel so traumatized. And then I had pain in that spot and those nerves for months after the birth. That pain was worse than the incision pain. I’m honestly scared to have another child. Is that normal? Will that happen again? Was it because I was shaking? I’m considering asking to have an epidural placed with no medication in the event of a future vbac to avoid the shaking situation in an emergency.