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January 2011 Moms
catheter fear
I've seen many people mention catheters during labor the last few days and being nervous about that. Just thought I'd tell you that just because you have an epidural, doesn't necessarily mean you have to have a catheter. I'm going to assume it's how long you are in labor. I never had a catheter placed after either of my epidurals. But I delivered in less than 2 hours after my first epidural and delivered 4 hours after my second. I have been straight catheterized before where they just empty your bladder and take it out. It really isn't that big of a deal. I just don't want anyone to be scared of it. Why worry about something that might not happen. Hope this helps.
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Re: catheter fear
Thanks for posting this. I saw someone posting about that too, like it was a definite thing. I didn't have a catheter when I gave birth. Or if I did, that was the least of my worries that day, and I don't even remember it!
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I was cathed 2 times, once during pushing and once after the baby was born because I still couldn't feel if I needed to pee yet.
It was just a little hose and a baggy, she just put it in, drained my pee and pulled it out. I never felt a thing. Thanks epi!
I did however have to pee on my own before I was allowed to get up and take a shower in my postpartum room.
An epidural numbs you from the waist down. You cannot walk. Not at all. You have no feeling in the lower part of your body.
You can't go to the bathroom on your own, nor can you feel when you need to go. If you don't have one, yes, you can just wet the bed. They really don't care. They have something called Chux several layers deep on the bed and they are soak proof. Those are the quilted looking squares you see in the hospital in beds. About 2 feet by 2 feet square.
You don't have to have a catheter. You can refuse it. But, sometimes they prefer it... but ultimately they will not do it if you say no, because it is considered invasive, and you have a right to say no. You can opt for a bed pan but you won't be able to feel the urge to go if you have an epidural.
They do insist that you void on your own after the delivery and the epidural has worn off, but I'm a terrible patient and I lied and said I did pee and that I just flushed it. I'm a nurse now, so I know better because it's for my own good, but at that time, I didn't care.
And, if you have an epidural, you won't care because you won't feel it at all. With no epidural, you'll feel it, but not enough to care since you will have much worse to worry about... like the contractions and the baby.
Things have changed from the old days. They used to give enemas also, but again, now they don't care. If you have a bowel movement on the bed, they wipe it out of the way and keep going. They see it all the time.
And even if you do need one with your epi, you so don't feel it! It took a couple tries for the nurses to get mine in, and I didn't feel a thing. Then they just deflated the balloon during pushing and I pushed it out.
After labour I pretty much got up to pee right away. Honestly, don't worry about it either way!