Interesting article: The Truth About Epidurals

vanillacourage · January 2012

https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/01/the_truth_about_epidurals.html

I won't paste the whole thing here b/c it's really long, but it goes into studies on whether epidurals lengthen labor, increase the likelihood of a c/s, impede BFing, etc.

Ivana_Stolichnaya · January 2012

It's a good read but it's no medical journal.

slukd79 · January 2012

Its not a medical article-- its written for the masses and I think they did a nice job of covering both sides.

(I didn't post this myself because this falls in the controversial Bump category of "natural" childbirth vs. epidurals/C sections or along the same lines as FF vs. BF.)

Amberrrr · January 2012

I posted this yesterday! The article actually got me all anti-epdidural. I'm probably going to end up getting one though, why stand the pain when I have something for it. Also, women have been receiving epidurals for quite a long time. But I often hear that they make the process longer, and that scares me. Some people get them and can still push effectively though. But I'm a FTM, so I can't gaurantee that my pushing skills are gonna be all that wonderful..

DeviantMuse · January 2012

I had an epi with my first and it didn't do anything that the article stated it would do except numb the pain as it should. I will be having an epi with this one too.

Just some insight: no one has to have a "skill" in pushing. You push...that's it. Your body does the rest of the work for you.

Keri Marie · January 2012

I loved my 3 epidurals... LOVED!

susan451 · January 2012

I loved my epidurals too! I didn't have any trouble mentioned in the article. I only had to push 2 times and he had no trouble breastfeeding.

NY-allie · January 2012

I had an epidural. My labor was 3.5 hours total and I had to push twice (<7 min). I will be getting one again.

LuckyBride06 · January 2012

My belief about childbirth... Every person, baby, body and situation is different. It depends on so many different things, so you can't say that something causes something else. I know someone who went w/o an epi for 10 hours and only got to 2cm, she got an epi, and was at 10cm 2 hours later. I got an epi and I BF'd fine, I think many woman just have difficulty bfing in general. You never can plan what your birth will be like, just go with the flow! That's what I learned from all the crazy stuff that went on during ds's birth! You never know!

Vuja_de · January 2012

Ivana.Stolichnaya:
It's a good read but it's no medical journal.

this exactly.

Angel002 · January 2012

Keri Marie:
I loved my 3 epidurals... LOVED!

I loved my 2 epidurals! Theonly issue I had was the last pregnancy afterwards I had back problems. I couldn't lay on my tummy and it went away once I got pregnant again (weird). That alone makes me want to try to not have one this time around but I'll probably get one.

I felt numb enough to not feel the contractions full on but I was still able to feel enough to push. I had no problems (other than the back ache) afterwards and was able to breastfeed and it didn't slow down my labor. I was able to get my son out in 7 pushes the last time!

CourtneyM09 · January 2012

DeviantMuse:

I had an epi with my first and it didn't do anything that the article stated it would do except numb the pain as it should. I will be having an epi with this one too.

Just some insight: no one has to have a "skill" in pushing. You push...that's it. Your body does the rest of the work for you.

This. I also had an epidural with DD. And my plan all along was to have one, but just wait as long as possible to do so (I only lasted two hours! My contractions were continuous without any breaks.). Perhaps it made me labor longer --- I was in "active" labor for 10 hours -- I'll never know, but I was pretty comfortable. And I certainly had no problem pushing. Personally, I have issue with other drugs that are available to women in labor, like those that can cross over and effect the baby, but I certainly wouldn't take the right away from other women. To each, her own. I also plan on an epidural with LO in a few months.

Want a personalized experience?

Interesting article: The Truth About Epidurals

Re: Interesting article: The Truth About Epidurals

Choose Another Board

Search Boards