Your pain relief options during labour

[@bluefinch604]

What a lovely man! Thank you for giving us all the facts, and for saving women from horrific pain during childbirth. The anesthesiologist was a godsend for me at 30 hours in after being induced. And the gas is delightful, you’re right.

[@benmaxwell5384]

Two notes for those outside the UK: pethidine is called meperidine elsewhere in the world (or its trade name, Demerol), and diamorphine is not available outside the UK for this medical use. The video was intended for use in our town, though I am delighted that women elsewhere find it useful, so I didn't say this in the film. If others have questions please don't hesitate to post them. I can't promise but I will try to answer. If you have criticisms of the film please try to explain which areas you dislike. I can't remake the film but it'll be very helpful to understand its deficiencies so that I can counsel my patients better. If you are pregnant I hope all will go really well for you. Above all I wish you a healthy baby. Don't forget that most women report that (in retrospect) childbirth is a very special and satisfying experience, and I hope you will find the same. Ben Maxwell

[@GreatWesternHospital]

Hi thanks for your comments, congratulations! Very pleased you had such a good experience at our hospital. All the best!

[@carlroff3181]

My wife has had Pethidine for our last 3 children. It is an amazing drug that did not send her "loopy" but helped her to relax and stop the trauma childbirth has for many. I, for one, as a Medical Practitioner, will always use this short-term fantastic pain reliever for many symptoms including migraine, acid reflux, kidney stones...WHY? because onset with an IM injection will border on 15-20 minutes, or IV almost instantly. Why has 'backward' Australia stopped producing Pethidine tablets which were fantastic for assisting in pain management for kidney stones, etc. My wife, being English, will no doubt see me relocating to the UK/Scotland to continue with all variations of this drug.

[@pP-de5uj]

Pethidine helps make muscles relax, it does not stop pain.

[@benmaxwell5384]

I'm delighted that so many have viewed this film. You might also like to watch the companion film on having a caesarean section. A quarter of babies end up being born by planned or unplanned caesarean. I wish you a very happy experinece of childbirth and a wonderful baby. Ben Maxwell

[@GreatWesternHospital]

Hi thank you for getting in touch, it's great to know that you found the video helpful! Take care

[@marshajohnstonmenehan6385]

With 4 of my children I had no pain relief what so ever,and it’s a pain that is easily forgotten,Think about the outcome a beautiful new life

[@benmaxwell5384]

I'm delighted things worked well for this lady. This isn't everybody's experience. It is impossible to know in advance if you will need help either to deliver your baby or with pain during the process etc. Keeping an open mind and finding out what is available so that you can make informed decisions rather than trying to decide in an emergency surely makes sense. Hope for things to go brilliantly, but be ready if they don't.

[@sahaabakbar]

Thank you. This information is really helpful for someone like me and my wife who are just about planning to start on the childbirth journey. Thanks a lot.

[@stacyg585]

I gave birth in my home to a baby that had shoulder dystocia. It was incredibly intense and yes there was a lot of pain, but I did not need pain killers and glad I didn't get any. I did tons of perineal massage prior to the birth and had zero tearing, which was pretty incredible. Women-you don't need to be drugged to get through a birth. You can prepare your body before the birth to handle the intensity of the experience. I studied Hypnobirthing. It helped a ton. I'm so glad my daughter was born without any drugs in my system. More women should have the confidence to know they can do this without any interventions.

[@lilianabatista9867]

I need drugs sorry...im a woozy 🥴. When I had my first child, my body didn't know how to take it.

[@LilKitten9620]

It may work for some, but some women will need pain meds. No matter how much they prepare you never know what will happen.

[@loveableangel69]

I live in the US. Although Epidurals are extremely here (at least among everyone I know) I really wanted to find out about other options aside from breathing techniques and an epidural.

[@nimco84]

I’m 36 weeks and normally to have normal delivery so I want to choose the gas 🙏🏽

[@mugurelsonea]

this is very helpful info.....thnx a lot

[@JeanniePandota]

This was such a helpful video! Thank you so much!!

[@puddlovee]

May be worth mentioning diacetylmorpine as an alternative to pethidine -- I am a man and so have never experienced child birth, but my sisters, mother, and many friends all tried pethidine after gas and air as the next step up and the nausea and vomiting can be absolutely terrible, and like it said in this video, the pain relief isn't always that fantastic for labour pain anyway - so there's lots of room for negative side effects like nausea and vomiting for (relatively speaking) little pain relief. Diacetylmorphine shares the same problem with regards to nausea and vomiting but does much better at killing the pain or so I have been told. It is also worth noting that the drug ondansetron can be used for opiate induced nausea and vomiting. It may not be safe during pregnancy or labour, I'm not sure there is enough data on the drug yet and it is quite expensive, but it is always worth researching if you know what kind of pain relief works best for you but you also know the side effects. Also, for what it's worth, diacetylmorphine caused both my sisters to feel sick like pethidine - however it didn't actually make them vomit, just feel nauseous. The pethidine on the other hand had them actually being sick, and for one of my sisters, this lasted for many many hours even after baby was born. I advised her after her first labour to ask straight up for diacetylmorphine due to the extreme vomiting previously and she did; a combination of diacetylmorphine and cyclizine did the trick and she had a much more comfortable birthing experience. I'm not a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, just someone who absorbs information from television, books and other people's experiences like a sponge. I'm actually a Sociologist and the reason pethidine is still one of the "go to" painkillers in child birth, is, in personal opinion, due to (at least a small bit) the negative stigma associated with diacetylmorphine ("heroin"). The reason I believe this is because I know recently qualified midwifes and they are still being taught about pethidine as the "labour drug" - it is practically never used int he UK outside of child birth - and yet the data shows side effects are extremely common and the pain killing effects aren't that good. So why is it still the go to opiate? Because we don't like injecting "heroin" in to mothers about to give birth. This is just my own sociological view of things -- it would be fantastic to hear if any anaesthetists feel the same way or have their own theories.

[@benmaxwell5384]

Dear puddlovee, Thankyou for your very useful comments. You are right that diacetylmorphine, usually called diamorphine , is an alternative to pethidine and is used in some hospitals in the UK. You are right that it isn't used much outside Maternity, but it is sometimes preferred for the treatment of kidney stone pain, which shares some characteristics with labour pain. Registered UK midwives are allowed to use a number of drugs without referring to a doctor. Pethidine is on this list but diamorphine administration either needs a doctor's say so or extra local agreement and quite time consuming training. As far as I am aware there is no consensus that intramuscular diamorphine relieves pain better than pethidine in the context of labour pain, though each dose lasts longer. For these reasons many (I think most) UK hospitals including ours use pethidine, not diamorphine. I'd advise following local practice on this since staff tend to know and use the drugs they use all the time best. Ben Maxwell

[@elizviy]

You brits are so lucky to have nitrous oxide....it's so hard to find here in the US except at specialty birthing centers. Even the brand new hospitals in big cities don't have it

[@alexajones2331]

I took every pain relief I could! You don’t get medals for pain lol!!

[@loveableangel69]

Found this very helpful. Thank you.

[@zebbieloo7409]

If you can go without then please do so. After all drugs are not good! We did it year ago so we can do it now.

[@benmaxwell5384]

Yes. It was far more dangerous and often far more uncomfortable in days before medicine. Things have improved.

[@Jobrownghosthunter]

tens machines work always used one

[@tapantamang3598]

Thanks man

[@loveableangel69]

Epidurals are Extremely common here* sorry I'm watching this and typing from my cellphone and my thumbs have decided to not cooperate.

[@LilKitten9620]

If I wasnt allergic I would just use the laughing gas so I wouldnt have to be jabbed lol, its insane

[@debbiewatts5377]

Period pain. It's nothing like them. How would he know hes a man..😂

[@evak2215]

home birth is much better than hospital one if you are healthy. its too medicated nowadays.

[@lovebugea]

my grandmother is a nurse from cuba they don't use pain meds for birth there, since it would be a waste of the medications for a more serious things.

[@evak2215]

+lovebugea interesting. I love Cuba. shame it's now exposed to America.

[@jamescorbin421]

@@evak2215 Cuba? Thank God I don't live in a 3rd World Country like Cuba.However,in 1984 I worked with an RN (Captain Choy) in the ER & he was from Cuba but he was an excellent Nurse.We worked at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu,Hawaii