question about meds during labor

hackett · January 2011

my very best friend swears she would never suggest anyone get an epidural or any other meds while delivering their baby because her first child's heartrate dropped severely low right after delivery due to one of the pain meds she was given. She had her other three completely med-free. She also said she remembered being really groggy and dopey after her first was born.

I still want the epidural during my own delivery, but I dont want to be all mushy-headed the first time I get to hold my baby. What else are you given during delivery besides the epidural?

luvdv8 · January 2011

You aren't given anything without consent- you (or SO on your behalf) are to be notified of any and all additional drugs. Some women are given sedatives after a particularly long labor to help them rest or take the edge of the contractions early on before the epi is administered. Anti-nausea drugs can also make you groggy. Confirm that you'd like them to speak with you about additional drugs outside of the epidural.

Phil&Corinna · January 2011

There's a bunch of different options - your best bet is to ask at your local hospital which pain relief options they offer. Here you can get laughing gas, which doesn't take away the pain but takes the edge off, demerol, and morphine; maybe others. There are a vast number of med-free ways to deal with labour pains too; have you signed up for a childbirth class??? Your ob/mid-wife should be able to tell you what your options are too. Even searching this site or googling it will give you a rough idea of what to expect.

wesleysgirl1106 · January 2011

The epi did not affect my DS at all. The drugs I'd stay away from are the Staydol and Demerol. They make you cloudy-headed and not able to be alert. The epi only numbed me enough under my chest to my thighs so I couldn't feel the pain of the pitocin contractions, relaxing me enough to where I dilated to 10 within 2 hours of receiving the epi. Had they left mine on through delivery, I would have been able to feel the need to push and have DS easily. But they turned it off when I was at 10, and I ended up with a c-section.

desdemona39 · January 2011

From my experience (nursing student on an L&D unit for 16 weeks this past semester) more mothers reported feeling groggy after being administered narcotics such as morphine and demerol than with the epidural.

I personally plan to try to go med-free, but if I need something to help me cope with the pain, I will ask for it, though I haven't decided which meds I would want.

weelass24 · January 2011

I wanted to go med free, but I had back labor and there was only so much I could take. I got an IV painkiller at first, which I was told would not be 100% effective. I would feel the contractions, but it would take the edge off. What a load of crap. It made me loopy and sleepy. I would sleep in between the contractions and wake up smack in the middle of them screaming in pain. I did that for a few hours before caving and asking for the epi.

The epi was amazing. Once they got it in, I was pain free in about 15 mintues. Because I was all loopy from the IV stuff, I slept right away for about 2 hours and then it was time to push. In my case, the epi relaxed me enough so that my cervix dialated very quickly and he came hours earlier than the doctor expected.

I will not get the IV stuff again. I was so out of it once I got them, even after delivery. I will 100% get the epidural again. I was happy with the way it worked and I got e-nor-mous hemmorhoids from pushing. I expect the same will happen with this baby, so in order to not be in additional pain right away, I will take the epi.

The only issues I had with his heart rate was when I pushed. His HR dropped with I pushed on my back, but was fine when I was on either side. Unfortunately, my pushes weren't effictive on my sides. The HR issues was not enough for them to take immediate action and I was able to deliver vaginally.

pomrom · January 2011

desdemona39:

From my experience (nursing student on an L&D unit for 16 weeks this past semester) more mothers reported feeling groggy after being administered narcotics such as morphine and demerol than with the epidural.

This. I was given Morphine early on when I was about 3-5cm and then I got the epidural. There were literally hours in between the narcotic pain meds and delivery and I couldn't tell I had even had them. Also, there is a certain point that they will not give you that kind of medication, specifically for that reason. The only thing that made me groggy was the Benadryl they gave me within minutes after delivery because I was itching so bad from the epi. I took a pill so it took about 45 minutes to work. I woke/slept off and on for about 3 hours and dh did just fine with the baby. He even did her first bath with the nurse. I saw bits and pieces of it.

KittahMama · January 2011

I had stadol early in my labor because I had contractions for two weeks and by that point I was ready to kill someone for some relief. It didn't make me groggy, it just made me not care about the pain.

The epidural I got about an hour later. I delivered four hours after the stadol and by then it had wore off. I was very alert during and after my delivery.

What's interesting is I have a friend that delivered her son with no meds whatsoever and she actually wrote about a dozen times in her birth story she doesn't remember this or that and how loopy she was after the birth and doesn't remember anything clearly til like four hours later. I had an epi and felt great! I was walking within an hour of giving birth and my DD was perfect and happy!

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