Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Feb
13
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“The Epidural Cannot Stall Labor.”
“The epidural cannot stall labor.” – Certified Nurse Midwife and L&D Nurse to mother.
There are 16 comments to this post.
Jennifer had this to say,
Feb 13, 2012 @ 11:04 am (Quote)
Riiiiight… that’s why my contractions, which were every 3-4 minutes when I got to the hospital, completely stopped as soon as I got an epidural. And it’s why I’m not going to get one this time. 
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Stephanie P Reply:
February 14th, 2012 at 10:55 am (Quote)
It took me until my 4th baby to go epidural free, but I tell you what, it was completely worth it to go natural! It was much quicker, and my recovery was much faster too. Transition was tough for me, but pushing was so focused I forgot I was even in pain.
I hope you have a safe, easy, relatively quick labour!
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Jennifer Reply:
February 14th, 2012 at 12:50 pm (Quote)
Thanks for the encouragement! This will be my third… I wasn’t sorry I got the epidural the first time, but with the second I wished I hadn’t. I was at 6-7 cm and not really in any pain when I got to the hospital, but I fell for the “if you don’t get it now, you probably won’t have time” line. My labor stopped completely, I ended up with pitocin, etc. And I really felt like it would have gone quickly had I not gotten the epidural. So this time, I’m determined not to.
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Okay so here’s my take on it. DIRECTLY? No BUT you are REQUIRED to be in bed once you get it and odds are, you will be laying down. By laying down, you stall labor. So indirectly I agree 100% it WILL stall labor. That’s why I have decided if I EVER get one, it’ll be RIGHT at 9 cm (the last chance to get one) so that I am close enough it’ll probably give me the energy I may or may not need. FTR, I have had one with each of my kids, one pushed on me and the other, I didn’t know any difference. I’m hoping to avoid with the next and the one after? No chance, I will be at a birth center (trying to experience all types of labor =) )
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Kristy Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 1:53 pm (Quote)
I believe it can *directly* slow down labor. In fact I thought that was actually *told* to us in the ‘class’ we took before I was able to get an epidural with my first. Love that hospital’s policy! Wish I had paid more attention to their wisdom than my doctor.
It certainly seemed to directly effect my first labor. I was in bed being a ‘good little patient’ (my doc even required the enema and I didn’t ask questions) from 4cm on and got to 8cm very quickly (about 3-4 hours). Then I was given the epidural and slowed down to a crawl… it was another four hours before I gave birth. It couldn’t have been an indirect effect of being in bed… I’d been in the bed for hours.
Four kids later I realize that I was just about done and shouldn’t have bothered with the epidural. Every other birth I’ve delivered about 1/2 hour after I hit *6* cm… I’m sure with my first it wouldn’t have been *much* more than if I had left well enough alone at 8 cm.
I’m spoiled by my quick labors now and can’t even imagine doing something as crazy as slowing things down with an epidural again.
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Natalie had this to say,
Feb 13, 2012 @ 9:31 pm (Quote)
In order to stop labor for a c-section, the anesthesiologist will usually turn up the epidural, right? Because the uterus will respond the same way the legs are, given enough narcotic. I heard this in the Q & A after the hospital epidural class.
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Ha. This made me scoff. Three births, three epidurals, three stalled labors. I knew it would stall with my most recent labor so I asked what alternative pain management options I had and was basically told it was an epidural or nothing. I want.brave enough to go without but next time I will. I’m sure my labors would have been much much shorter without it.
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3 babies born in hospital and 4 since at home. Looking for the 5th home birth in June. I will never willingly go back to hospital! I walked the halls in there and they gave me meds to stop labor. The pain was much more manageable at home than even an epidural. I have 2 SIL’s who have had Csecs because of an induction, then epidural slowed things down, and finally when they were dilated the baby’s head wasn’t even engaged so Docs got scared and had to cut it out.
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Yeah, and Pitocin cannot cause fetal distress or uterine rupture, cervical checks cannot cause infection, and there’s no such thing as surgical complications with c-sections.
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