does the epidural hurt?

Sorry girls I know you are probably thinkin what an eejit I am for asking this given the pain of childbirth and all but I am a totall wuss and just wondered does it hurt much getting the epidural ?(and Ive never had it so havent a clue!!!!) whats it like??????? tried to put poll together for what pain relief you had when giving birth but as Ive never done it myself I havent a clue whats available so probably a crap poll but giv it a go anyway!!!!

hi i had the epidural the last time and i didnt even notice anything. so its fine from that point of view. this time i am going to try the tens machine

I started off using the tens machine - fine for a while (more of a distracion than anything else). I then had to be induced as contractions stopped - at that stage I had been on the go for over 30 hours and when the contractions started, I knew I needed something stronger if I was going to manage the pushing bit so I decided to skip pethidine and went straight for the epidural and didn't look back! As for getting it - I didn't notice any pain (not in comparison to the contractions!) and after I got it, I only felt 2 more contractions so happy days!

i tried the gas and air at first but i didn't like how it made me feel (very woozy and light-headed and removed from reality) and it didn't help with the pain anyway (i was induced so contractions were very strong right from the start) - i got the epidural and i felt only the tiniest stinging/scratch sensation (like an insect bite) when it went in. the needle they use for teh epidural is absolutely tiny and once it's in you aren't aware of it at all.

Well, having intended to have a totally med free labour I ended up trying a bit of everything so here's my tuppence worth! Gas & air I didn't like as it made me feel totally stoned, or what I would imagine that to feel like, seemed like the midwife was floating in mid-air and was shouting at me from a great distance, which all combined to make me feel a bit ill! And didn't do anything for the pain....so I tried the pethidine, which I would totally advise against as it made me vomit and in between the vomiting I kept falling asleep and again, did nothing for the pain!!! Bear in mind though that i tend not to react well to anasthetics and medication generally anyway, so that reaction might just be because of my own particular system! Epidural didn't hurt at all going in, so don't be worried about that, and was definitely the best in terms of pain relief, although I had it very late on so the effect was limited! Making myself sound like a total wuss here but in my defence she was a rather large baby!! My advice would be try not to use anything at all, which I obviously didn't manage!! Or go for the epidural and get it straight away!!! Apologies for the epic response!!

thanks girls, I cant wait to have a baby but the labour is the scariest thing if you ask me anyway, so thanks for sharing ye're stories and I think ye are all fab for getting through it with or without medication!!

I am a complete wuss too when it comes to pain so don't worry! I had the gas and air first and I found it fantastic. You feel kinda drunk after having it but without the slurring. It does not stop the stupid talk though so be warned. As someone else said you can feel removed from reality a little bit but for me it was more like "hehehe, I feel drunk!" and it was actually fun. I then had the morphine injection and the nurse said it would work after 15 minutes. I sat looking at the clock and after 15 mins I said loudly "its not working, you said 15 minutes!!!". I'm sure they loved me in there. I then asked for the epidural and I was holding onto a pillow waiting for the pain to come but it never came. Now maybe I was too drugged up to notice any pain but I don't think so as I was certainly feeling the pain of the contractions so to answer your question, no it did not hurt at all for me.

The worst part of the epidural for me was how cold it was when the iodine was swabbed on my back beforehand. The doc. warned me it would be cold, but BLOODY HELL! Honestly, that was the worst part of it. You'll feel a small scratch on your back and that's it. They'll give you a local anesthetic first before the actual epidural itself, so you won't feel anything, just a lovely ease from the contractions. Bliss!

I have heard that pethedine can make you sick too, my friend had the same experience with it, vomited everywhere....

No, the epidural does not hurt - it's like a sharp scratch like any other needle when you are getting in the local anaesthetic and after that all you feel is a small amount of pressure. What you do feel though are tiny electric shocks in your legs when they are testing it out - they told me it is good to feel these as they know it is going in the right place. I had a TENS machine in the early part of labour and found this more annoying than anything but got to 5cm with it so maybe it was helping, but I didn't really like the sensation. Then I had a bath in the hospital which was nice and then I tried gas and air. Gas and air really helps you focus your breathing. Finally I decided to go for the epi and I was delighted I did. The epi is a God-send. It didn't work for me at first so they upped the dosage and then it was brilliant. I dreaded labour too but it was totally grand - definitely worse for hubby! You will be amazed by your body's ability to cope. Labour is more like a REALLY intense squeezing or tightening, than pain. Best of luck and I know everyone probably says it, but honestly, you WILL be fine!