following on from "labous as bad.." - 2 q's!

1 - If you are going down the no-pain-relief route and need an episiotomy - do they give you a local anasthetic down there before they do it???? oh pls say yes, otherwise i think i might faint! 2 - For the folk who have had babies and found the pain v difficult - how would you rate youself with pain/sickness in general? Cos I think I'm relativley tough - dont take painkillers, not on any meds and am pretty active n healthy. BUT I can imagine myself squealing for an epidural as soon as it starts. Is there any correlation between how you are in general and how you are ni labour? Or does it affect everyone differently? A good friend of mine is a complete wuss and total hypochondriac, but she managed to deliver a 9lb2oz baby with no pain relief - I was gobsmacked - but is it just different for every person?

[quote="rosie_bean":3aufjuny]1 - If you are going down the no-pain-relief route and need an episiotomy - do they give you a local anasthetic down there before they do it???? oh pls say yes, otherwise i think i might faint! 2 - For the folk who have had babies and found the pain v difficult - how would you rate youself with pain/sickness in general? Cos I think I'm relativley tough - dont take painkillers, not on any meds and am pretty active n healthy. BUT I can imagine myself squealing for an epidural as soon as it starts. Is there any correlation between how you are in general and how you are ni labour? Or does it affect everyone differently? A good friend of mine is a complete wuss and total hypochondriac, but she managed to deliver a 9lb2oz baby with no pain relief - I was gobsmacked - but is it just different for every person?[/quote:3aufjuny] I'm not sure about your first question best to ask your consultant or midwife and secondly I'm ok with pain/sickness in general... There is nothing wrong with "squealing for an epidural".. if you have pain you have pain... your not a failure for having an epidural... Labour is named labour for a reason.. its tough but some people just have it easier than some and yes their pain threshold maybe higher... its different for everyone.. best thing to do is prepare for the worst and see what happens... I will say exercise and pregnancy yoga seem to be helping my friends a great deal... my friend on her first pregnancy had it tough second one she stayed active all the way through and practices yoga and she found she seemed more limber and loose down there while pushing baba through...

1. No idea sorry 2. Had a conversation with a friend last night who is pregnant with their third child. She says that she had a terrible labour and recovery after first baby and flew through the second one. She seems to think that it has nothing to do with baby size, pain threshold or anything else - every pregnancy and birth is different, she said the only thing she did differently second time round was relax more and she was less scared because she kind of knew what to expect. She still has anxieties on this pregnancy like any other expectant mum, so no hard and fast rules unfortunately!!

[quote:3d98mvxp]1 - If you are going down the no-pain-relief route and need an episiotomy - do they give you a local anasthetic down there before they do it???? oh pls say yes, otherwise i think i might faint! [/quote:3d98mvxp] I'm not sure as I had an epidural, but I remember being told that they do it at the height of a contraction so you won't really feel it as the contraction is much more painful! [quote:3d98mvxp]2 - For the folk who have had babies and found the pain v difficult - how would you rate youself with pain/sickness in general? [/quote:3d98mvxp] I would have always classified myself as having a very high pain threshold. I very rarely take painkillers and have no problems getting brazilian waxing done! I also suffer from bad period pain and had been told women who do find birth easier as they are used to pain. I was sure I'd be able to do it without pain relief and although I managed to get to 6cm with no pain relief (after 12 hours of labour), after than I was screaming for the epidural. I think it was to do with the fact I hadn't slept in 30 hours which really decreases your pain threshold. As the others said you can't know how you'll feel until its happening, so know your options and keep an open mind and you'll be fine.

Hiya, had no pain relief during my labour with DS, it was a long and tough labour, 28 hours. No, you do not get a local anaesthetic (which is pain relief by the way!) for the episiotomy, but you do not feel it at ALL - this is the thing I was so scared of before labour and I'd asked all my friends and they said they didn't feel it, and they were right. You are already out of your mind in pain anyway, and at that stage the baby is coming out and all you're thinking is "NEARLY THERE NEARLY THERE" so it's actually grand.

yes they do give local anestic. I think im pretty good with pain, i have had kidney stones and they were terrible, I had my wisdom teeth out without any pain relief, but labour pain is different. Also I didnt get the Epi till I was 6cm, so I got from 0 to 6 on gas and air, they aked me to take the epi because I had pre ecamplisa and was induced and my bp kept going up with each contraction and could send me into a fit, so it was either Epi or emergency c section, so i had ther epi. It didnt take the pain away for me, it was still there and still bad. In the end I pused for 2 hours to no avail and was rushed to theatre becasue the babys heart was decelerating, do they suctioned and forceped him out.

Hi as said you do get the local with the episiotomy and again for the stiches in Holles st any way, I dont think it is fair to call it pain relief in the scheme of things is it minor and has no effect on the contractions pain, I had a very quick labour and I was fully dilliated in less than 2 hours I was checked and I was not in labour and 2 and a half hours later i was fully diliated so I had no time to get the epidural, before hand I was thinking about will I get one or not and to be honest I am not sure I would have been able to do a longer labour with out one, but I will say, the they dont hand you a medal at the door on the way out if you dont have pain relief and the pain of contractions and of giving birth is a pain the you forget when you are holding you baby.

any birth and pregnancy books I've read say you get a local anaethetic for an episiotomy or stitches - unless you've had an epidural, in which case you might not need it. This was a big worry for me as a couple of (childless and dare I say it, thoughtless!) friends put the wind up me by saying you have to have it without

Not entirely sure about the first query but I did think a local anaesthetic was applied. As for pain threshold, I always considered that I have a very high pain threshold. I have a pre-exisitng medical condition and have endured considerable pain with it but labour was something else! I was also quite fit both before and durong pregnancy and did yoga throughout my pregnancy. I think the main thing with my labour was the exhaustion and the lack of sleep - when you're tired you can't cope with the pain (I was also induced as contractions stopped). But there is no shame in getting pain relief in any form. As midwife told us at ante-natal classes - the baby will not come out and pat you on the back if you manage it without the epidural! You really have to keep an open mind and do what works for you at the time.

Jeese, where I live (NL) we get nothing for episiotomies and also got nothing for the stitches - I felt every prick of that needle. Although the episiotomy was grand as in I was already off my head in pain so I just didn't feel it, the stitches afterwards were very painful when she was putting htem in. I definitely think I've a high threshold for pain now. I did not find it awful until I was 8cms dilated - after that it was really hard. From 0-8 I was fine. Then I roared for pain relief - but it was too late! In this country, you get nothing anyway, no epidural, no gas and air.... if you are very lucky you might get pethidine but I didn't want that as it made a lot of peopel I know sick and unable to focus on what was going on.