Post by verycontrary247 on Jul 3, 2020 8:53:33 GMT -5
I found out yesterday that due to Covid, the hospital I'm delivering at isn't offering nitrous oxide for pain relief during labor anymore, which was what I had been planning on using.
I'm feeling super bummed and thrown off- I really don't want to do IV pain meds or an epidural because it's important to me that I'm not confined to the bed during labor.
Can anyone else recommend alternative pain management options or methods?
Post by tiptoetulips on Jul 3, 2020 10:03:57 GMT -5
They started an IV Line for me when I was admitted just so they had it in case of emergency. I had fentanyl after delivery but before the placenta. They unhooked my line and I was free to move around and use the tub. Maybe look into hypno birthing?
I've had one spontaneous labor and one induction, and both times the only pain management I had was lidocaine injections for the stitches after I had already delivered both the baby and the placenta. Nothing for the labor itself. It was painful, but it always felt tolerable to me, and being able to move, get up, use the bathroom, etc. during labor was so important to me feeling in control and in command of the situation. I honestly never seriously considered an epidural. I did lots of deep breathing and vocalizing through contractions, and trying different positions. With #1, a warm tub helped a lot. With #2 I didn't have access to a tub so I bounced on balls, and at the end I used a peanut between my knees lying on my side in bed.
I had an IV in place for both deliveries. With #1 I was GBS+ so I had antibiotics, and with #2 it was an induction so I was on pitocin. #1 happened super fast, but with #2 I walked around the hospital and just rolled the IV pole with me. When I had to use the bathroom, I rolled it in there too. So if you need to have an IV and can't have it locked off during labor, don't worry that it will mean you are stuck in bed. They also briefly disconnected it from my hand for me after I delivered DS, so I could take my bra down and get the strap off my arm for skin to skin. Then they reconnected it once I was settled for a little more pitocin to help deliver the placenta and prevent hemorrhaging.
I used some hypno birthing techniques and nitrous oxide for DS last fall. However, I only received the nitrous oxide for the very last five minutes since I didn’t realize how far along I really was. I am certain that if it had been unavailable the pain would still have been manageable.
The hypnobirthing program was useful for breathing management and also to allow me to centre myself and work through the contractions. I never once, even while practicing, felt like I was actually hypnotized and I didn’t wind up listening to the tracks during labour. I just used the breathing techniques and the thought process. I actually paced through my entire labour (I swear I walked for 5 hours straight) and my midwife was joking that DS would just fall out while I was on the move. I tried a peanut ball a bit but didn’t like sitting still, and I never bothered with the tub since I didn’t want to stop moving. At the very end I asked for nox and jumped up in the bed, by that point he was crowning. I think I took five breaths of it. DH was good at chasing me with a cold wet towel for my neck and applying counter pressure on my back during the last hour of contractions when I stood still.
I wasn’t confined to bed for my epidurals; I moved around a LOT during the 3 hours I pushed for my first. My hospital was good about making sure the epidural didnt inhibit movement.
Join Facebook groups for hypnobirthing. I found a lots of tips and guidance through reading those. Also the Freya app was amazing and is basically what I used for a med free birth. It is a contraction timer that helps you focus on breathing and in between contractions has meditations. I hope you find an alternative option that works for you and a great labour and delivery!
The main one was just called hypnobirthing. It has about 16.8k members but it’s run by someone who created the group to sell her program (in the UK I believe). However lots of recommendations of other programs, apps, books etc so I really found a lot of value through reading the comments! I also joined hypnobabies Facebook group and although it is a different method reading stories and tips on there also helped - this is called hypnobabies support group and has about 8.5k members. A few other ones that have some good free (or low price) apps are gentle birth or positive birthing company, look up others hypnobirthing playlists on Spotify, search for specific tracks recommended on the group on iTunes/amazon music etc.
I did it this way because by the time it was recommended to me I was well into 3rd trimester and didn’t have a lot of time, plus covid hit and I couldn’t do anything in person! So although I didn’t do full hypnobirthing, all of this really helped set me up for success! Also I read Ina May’s guide to childbirth and it was helpful reading all of the birthing stories.
It was overall a great experience and way better than my first birth where I felt I had no control over what what going on so this time around was so much better and I felt way more prepared! Any other questions let me know 😊
I wasn’t confined to bed for my epidurals; I moved around a LOT during the 3 hours I pushed for my first. My hospital was good about making sure the epidural didnt inhibit movement.
Ditto this.
I had not planned/wanted an epidural, but caved to one after having exclusive back labor (with no relief in between contractions - it was just constant pain concentrated solely in my spine). I asked for them to give me as low of a dose of one as possible, and I did retain some movement/feeling in my legs and could get into different positions.
Not saying you should feel pressured into having one, but if you do change your mind, it may be possible to have one without it completely paralyzing you from the waist down depending on your anesthesiologist/etc.
It's hospital policy here that you can't get out of bed if you get an epidural 😫
Sometimes too you just never know how your labor is going to go. I had a low dose epidural. I had a very fast labor. I got the epidural once I was 7-8cm dilated because I couldn’t tolerate the pain much at that point and delivered about an hour and a half later. I was laying in the bed, but I could feel everything and push and didn’t have much trouble walking afterwards (although they’ll still monitor you). I could also switch positions in the bed as well. It worked for me without feeling like was confined to the bed.