Does an epidural take away all the pain while pushing during childbirth?

Kristine - posted on 05/05/2010

The epidural took away ALL pain and pressure for me. I had no idea when the contractions were or how hard I was pushing. The only thing I felt was the relief of Caleb coming out! It was FANTASTIC!!!

Tara - posted on 05/05/2010

It is the best. I was so scared of having it I waited 14 hours of labour before deciding to have one. It is honestly a little pin prick in your back. If you have had 4 kids already then its nothing compared to that. Im not sure how the rest would've go with it as I had to have an emergency c-section. But I do know they ease the drugs off a bit in order for you to feel the pushing feeling. Highly recommended to anyone :) Good Luck

Amy - posted on 05/05/2010

they tried to give me 3 epidurals and they didn't work. the most it did was gave my left leg a little tingle. next time i will not have an epidural. the back pain i had after delivery lasted over a week. and to have had to have a natural delivery anyways i wouldn't bother. but i'm sure my case was rare. good luck with your decision.

Amanda - posted on 05/04/2010

I have given birth 4 times as well. I had the first two without the epideral, just a shot of demerol. Those labors took forever, about 24 hours each. My water would break, nothing would happen, very slow progress even with induction. With my 3rd, 12 hours after being induced and I was still stuck at 5cm with contractions every minute and no progress.I finally caved in and asked for the epideral. Pain ceased immediately. (I told the anesthesiologist that I loved him!) and my son was born about 20 minutes later. The epideral allowed me to relax and I progressed immediately. Didn't even have to push, he came so fast! Then with my 4th, I was induced, had my epideral and my son was born all in less than 5 hours. 2 contractions and he was out, very little pushing involved. Really, I think it just depends on each persons individual body, but if I had to do it again, I do the epideral every time!

Kasey - posted on 05/04/2010

I had a very long labor 29 hours ! I wasnt sure how much energy i had at the time the contractions were getting exhausting . I went in not wanting any intervention but I was runnong out of energy. I had the epi, and it was fantastic. I was petrified of getting a needle in the spine but at the time wanted to try anything for some relief ! I think i had the epi 7pm and had bub 2am next morning. It wasnt a full epi, it was where i felt contractions but it took off the bite of the contraction so it was bareable ! It was great. I still felt contractions still felt how to push and had control of my legs too so i could lift them to push. Was great to still have control ! ! After birth i walked to shower ! . I had tearin and lucky i didnt feel it ! :) Didnt feel stitches etc etc. I did tho have slight pain in back for a few weeks after but wasnt that bad.Just weird achy feeling. Was so worth it. And i would do it again. :)

Andrea - posted on 05/04/2010

I had to be induced after passing my due date. I was induced at midnight & tried to hang in there as long as possible before getting the epidural. I didn't feel any of my contractions, even when they were strong, but I had horrible lower back pain. I finally asked for the epi around 5:30am. Everyone had told me that the epi was no big deal & wouldn't hurt because the contractions would be hurting so much. Not in my case.... I felt alot of pressure while the anesthesiologist did the epidural but once he pumped the initial dose into the tube, it kicked in within a minute or two. I could still feel my legs, stomach & back, but they were very tingly & my legs felt very heavy. When it came to the pushing time, I felt the pressure of the baby coming, but I was able to push just fine. I felt a little bit of a tingling or burning when he was stretching things on the way out, but nothing too uncomfortable. I don't even know when they turned my epi pump off. I had a pretty bad tear & had to have quite a few sutures. Apparently by that point, the epi was off, but my doctor just gave me small, local shots of Lidocaine while she was suturing. I would feel a tiny little prick here or there, but even that wasn't painful. I highly recommend the epidural if your previous deliveries have been so painful. I know I'll be asking for one for any future deliveries!!

Eileen - posted on 05/04/2010

i totally agree with what you are saying Kari. You do not have to go through this pain if you do not have too. That's why epidural was invented..Lol.

Helen - posted on 05/04/2010

I couldn't feel anything - not even my toes in one foot. I had the uncomfortable cramping feeling in that leg but I couldn't move it. It made it really difficult to push because I couldn't feel my contractions or what I was doing down there. I had to imagine I was pushing and hope I was doing it right! In the end the doc tried first the vacuum then gave me an episiotomy and used the forceps to pull my bubba out. No pain as such but really hard to do - I was exhausted after 21.5 hours in labour. I got it after being in labour for about 12 hours - tried the gas and the pethadine first - my baby was face down and I was stuck at 7 cm so they were going to increase my contractions to turn him around and since I was already asking about the next level of pain killer if I didn't have the epidural then it would've been too late. Glad I did as we kept going for nearly another 10 hours. Next time I'm hoping I won't need it though!!

Heather - posted on 05/04/2010

For me they gave me a partial epidurial, I was able to walk around still but was unable to feel my back pain... because of this I was able to enjoy the birth a lot more. And I don't think it slowed down my birth either. I was in labour for only six and a half hours.

Pamela - posted on 05/04/2010

I had an epidural and yes it stop the pain all the way through.

Nancy - posted on 05/04/2010

It's different for everyone, I got it and all I felt was the pressure but I couldn't feel the contractions, tearing or stitching. It was worth it for me but like I said it was different for everyone, my girlfriend said she could feel the stitching, it definitely takes the edge off the contractions so they aren't as intense.

Mari - posted on 05/04/2010

I too had 3 kids naturally and on my 4th I told myself I wasn't going to get an epidural. I was more scared of the needle than the pain. My doc thought I was crazy. I guess I am one of the few who decline it..lol. But I gave in and I am now wondering why I didn't do it with all 3. I am sure every woman is different but as soon as I felt the epidural wearing off they gave me more meds. Very soon after the 2nd dose the nurse came in and checked me and said "OMG" her heads right there don't move...me and my hubby thought she was joking cause I didn't even feel anything. Lets just say I barely had to push I pushed about 2 times barely and the doc had to tell me to stop she was coming on her own. I just had a good experience. I have heard stories which is why I declined the first 3 times but I had an excellent experience with the epidural and would do it again but I am done so there will not be another..lol. Good luck sweets!

Nancy - posted on 05/04/2010

Timing is everything, if you have to close to the end then it doesn't work as well. I have 2 girls and had an epi with each and I loved it. everything was so calm and I got to actually enjoy the birth instead of screaming in agony. Your a lot less tired also and can enjoy your baby sooner. I didn't find it hurt, the contractions were much much much worse.

Shannon - posted on 05/04/2010

I actually had two epidurals during my delivery. they did not hurt. I preferred it to taking other medications that will make you and baby groggy. My mom says her's worked great. I would definitely recommend it. But, one thing I did not know, is that sometimes they don't work.

LisaJoy - posted on 05/04/2010

Hey, I had it, and they missed the first time due to a nerve being in the way and it hurt so bad I was crying. but they did it perfectly the second time. I told them they could have missed a hundred more times, because it was SOO worth it. within minutes I was in pretty much NO pain at all. And to be honest my back hurt just a little bit after they took it out, but I was in labor for 14 hours and I KNOW I couldn't have done it without the Epidural. I had the walking Epidural and it worked fine, but my friend had the walking Epidural and felt the whole thing.

Erin - posted on 05/04/2010

Actually getting the epidural doesn't hurt that bad, it's definitely worth it in my book because it gets rid of ALL the pain associated w/ contractions. However it didn't do ANYTHING for the pain that came w/ the pressure and burning of actually pushing.

Rupa - posted on 05/04/2010

i felt nothing. no contractions, no pain. i did feel lots of pressure when i was pushing and that was fine. i was totally aware of everything going on the whole time and had feeling of my legs. it was great!! the baby was fine and we bonded and i am breastfed him soon after:)

Torilyn - posted on 05/04/2010

Epidurals are good only if you get it later in dialation. I had my son January 20th. I was induced and therefore the pain was a bit increased. I ended up needing an epi 3 cm into dialation. It began to wear off and the doctor uped the dosage. By the time I started pushing (which was only 13 minutes), I had felt everything.

Epidurals are good but make sure you wait until you are at least 6cm dialated.

Jessie - posted on 05/04/2010

I felt nothing during the actually pushing part. I got my epidural to deal with contractions but after I had gotten the epidural the nurses told me I was fully dialated. My boyfriend would have to tell me when I was getting a contraction so I knew when to push and I would feel a little crampiness or pressure at the very top of my stomach. I had stitches after and felt none of them. I was planning on not getting one but I am glad I got one and don't regret it.

Shana - posted on 05/04/2010

I really didn't feel anything. In fact, I was reading a magazine when they told me to push. I was really nervous about getting one too, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Jamie - posted on 05/04/2010

Mine only worked on the left side so when I went in for an emergency csec I made sure they numbed me good

Cindy - posted on 05/04/2010

For me no, it wore off 15 mins in and I pushed for 2 hours and 15 mins. I had a rough labor so my experience isn't a great example. My step-daughter had her first child in less than 30 minutes, didn't feel a thing and said the epidural was the best thing. I was worried about the epidural too, didn't want it and shouldn't have because it wore off, and I have trouble with my back where it was now. But first time mom, scared to death, and they said it's now or never, because there won't be time to get him back in here if you don't do it now. It does take away the pain, I was able to sleep for a little over an hour right after I got it, my mom came in and woke me up, but like I said I had a very rough labor, dry labor, and they had to use the forcepts to pull my son out, then I hemmoraghed so they had to manually expel my placenta. You'll love the epidural!!!!

Sarah - posted on 05/04/2010

I had an Epi with my daughter and it was AMAZING! I highly recommend it. I had to be induced and while my cervix was thinned I was not dilating as I should so I could not have the Epidural until I was at 3. My contractions were all in my back and lasted almost a full minute, not to mention they were off the charts, literally! VERY intense. Finally after hours of hard hard labor I was dilated to 4 and was able to get the Epi, it didnt hurt AT ALL. I didnt even feel it go in. Probably because of the intense contractions. But once the meds were workin I was a different person, after 2 more contractions I didnt feel a thing. But I will be honest I still felt the urge to push, which is good. But there was some pain when she was actually being pushed out. But it was NOTHING in comparison to the horrible contractions I had. I will definetly get it again, NO WAY could I have done it without Meds. The woman who do are SUPERWOMAN...lol :) Hope this helps!! Good Luck!

Brittany - posted on 05/04/2010

My Epidural worked amazing!! I felt nothing and when it started to wear off, I got another dose of the meds. I have the greatest experience, and I have a 9 lbs. 1.3 oz baby boy, and tore and still felt nothing! Recommend the epidural, that part doesnt even hurt!!

Julie - posted on 05/04/2010

If you have done the other four without one, you can certainly do it again! I had an extremely quick labor (I went 6 weeks early and thought I was only having braxton hicks contrations..when I went to the hospital to get checked, I was already 4 cm and my son was born 4 hours later) and didn't have any pain meds until it was time to push. At that point they did a spinal block, which lasts about 4-5 hours. I still felt enough pressure to push, but didn't have the excruciating pain. Again, it doesn't last long, so these are only a good option if you have a quick labor.

Ntahli - posted on 05/04/2010

It does work and u wont feel a thing u will be dead from waist down, but after effects of it, the back will always have pains. I did it and I didnt know and now im afraid to do it again, But blv me it works a lot. I would say go for it coz went hvin a child naturally doctors say your musel can become stiff and possiblty is dat u die. Im afraid of everything acually.

Amanda - posted on 05/04/2010

I felt everything despite my epidural being turned WAY up. It's a different experience for everyone apparently ;)

Stephanie - posted on 05/04/2010

in a word: YES!

once i had my epidural - i was able to take a 2 hour nap, me and my hubby watched movies, and i was talking and laughing while i pushed. my OB even told me that i didnt tear AT ALL because the epidural made me so relaxed!

Danielle - posted on 05/04/2010

Mine worked great! Every person has a different experience with it, but mine did fantastic. I wont lie though I did feel most of it when I had to start pushing. I actually had to tell the doctor the baby was coming before they were even in the room! But like I said, every experience is different. You'll still feel mostly pressure, but you'll be a lot more relaxed and be able to concentrate on getting your baby out.

Sunshine - posted on 05/04/2010

When I got the epidural I was getting a C/S. But I didn't feel a thing.. SOme women can still feel the pressure.. If you can go through it 4 times you can def. go through this:) Good Luck

Julie - posted on 05/04/2010

It seems to be different for each person.....For me, the epidural was fantastic until I reached about 8 cm. Then I could start feeling things again and felt tremendous pain as I delivered my son. As some of the ladies mentioned below, I felt the stitches with my episiotomy, too and they had to numb me again. The epidural definitely helped me as the labor progressed - it was great to get some relief from the contractions for a while. However, when it was "go" time, I don't know how much it helped.

Kaci - posted on 05/04/2010

it definitly took away ALOT of the pain! you can still feel the pressure but it really isnt painful... i was only pushing for like 5 min so i dont know if it would wear off after a while or not.

Tanith - posted on 05/04/2010

An epidural is great in my experience. It didn't hurt putting it in, and it wasn't uncomfortable. I never felt the pain from contractions. Giving birth, all I felt was pressure... no pain. I never felt the stitches either. I highly recommend it.

Allison - posted on 05/04/2010

i LOVED the epidural! You can feel "pressure", but not pain-like when you get a tooth pulled. However, it doesn't work for everyone. I still would advise getting the epidural, I couldn't have done it without it.

Elizabeth - posted on 05/04/2010

I have 3 children, I had the epidural for my last 2, so I have done it both ways, my first was all natural.(OUCH) I now recommend the epidural to everyone! If you can be comfortable and have a nice memory of your childs birth I say why wouldnt you. I did still feel some pain and pressure but I could still feel when I was having a contraction and when I needed to push. It did not slow down my labor either time. They can also regulate how much medicine goes in so you can tell them maybe you dont want as much. I was really scared to get it the first time too, but I would never do it natural again. It just helped make it calmer and easier to bring my baby into this world.

Gemma - posted on 05/04/2010

Iv just had my first baby. I decided during labour to have an epidural after months of vowing never to even consider it. I suffered with SPD during my pregnancy and during labour the pain in my pelvis was worse than the contractions, so it was my only choice of relief. I then came into some difficulties, they realised my baby was back to back, and not coming down right, so after over 1 hour of pushing they took me to theater to try suction & forceps. They topped up my epidural just incase they needed to do an emergancy C-section. I still had to push while they delivared her by forceps, but i did not feel a thing as they had topped me up so much with a lot of epidural pain medicine.
If you have found labour and delivary too painfull in the past, I would say go for the epidural, it may not take all the pain away during delivary, but it should take the edge off.

Jessica - posted on 05/04/2010

Mine was great! I just had my second daughter, VBAC. I could still move my legs and tell when I was having contractions. I had very minimal pain when she came out, nothing that wasn't bearable, but still could feel her come out.

Kylie - posted on 05/04/2010

My labor was cake, I was 3-6cm for between a month . By the time i was able to go be induced i didnt even care. I recived my epiduarl an hour after getting to the hospital and couldnt feel anything. The doctor told me i must had push for an hour before letting anyone know I needed to. I push 15 mintues an my son was out..I think the longer yu wait to get it the more it works..or maybe my pain tolerance is high,, im not real sure!

Sue - posted on 05/04/2010

Hi i just had my first baby there 5 mnths ago and went through a 40 hr labour and only got an epi 8hrs before delivery and it was the best thing ever i never felt any pain or pressure just movement as the baby was coming down and as many others have said on here it gave me a chance to get a bit of sleep to get some energy for the delivery and it made the delivery experience quite relaxed. You hear stories of the epi wearing off, but in my case i had a button that gave me a booster if i started to feel pain just pressed the button. I also had to have stitches after as i had an episotomy but never felt a thing whilst that was being done either.

Kelly - posted on 05/03/2010

Mine didnt work, but I'd still recommend one x

Sasha - posted on 05/03/2010

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes ........................................... that was best part of my pregnancy.

Lexi - posted on 05/03/2010

I too was terrified of the epidural. I was more scared of that then I was of the prospect of delivery and planned on doing it natural. I ended up having such a long and difficult labor that by the time it got close to having him, I just couldn't take it anymore. My endurance and tolerance was at an end, I hadn't slept 3 nights in a row and I was exhausted. I asked them to give me a shot instead and it didn't hardly do anything for me. They suggested the epidural and I honestly don't think I could have had him if I hadn't gone thru with it. I don't think I could have pushed him out. 8 hours later (5 spent sound asleep) I had my healthy beautiful baby boy. I didn't feel anything from waist down. I couldn't feel the contractions or the pain, didn't feel the tearing. I could feel pressure when he was crowning and a release when he slipped out. But it wasn't a painful pressure. It was more like when your foot is totally numb asleep and you touch lightly on it. You can tell there is something there but can't really feel it. Since you can't feel the contractions, the doctor watches the monitor and tells you when to push and all that. It also helped me relax enough to finally dilate. After having contractions (no braxton hicks) for 3.5 days and full blown labor for 19 hours, I went from a 2.5 to a 7 in the hour after having the epidural. I truly believe if I hadn't had it, there would have been more serious complications. The doctor said I was a turbo pusher. As it was they were worried because his vitals started to drop towards the end. Turned out he was swimming in meconium and he had the cord wrapped twice around his neck. If I'd still been as exhausted and in pain I couldn't have pushed as well. Either he wouldn't have made it or I would have had to have a c-section. I don't regret my decision. I don't know for sure what I will decide if I get pregnant again. I've lost my fear, so I will most likely get another epidural.

Mia - posted on 05/03/2010

When I had my daughter I had the epidural and I felt nothing!! the epidural is heaven sent because I pushed my daughter out in tow pushes which I didnt even feel..

Jessica - posted on 05/03/2010

It took off the edge for me, but I still felt a lot of it. It was very painful even with the epidural. I still would get it again, though, because I can't imagine not having at least some pain relief. Plus having to lie still during the contractions was not fun.

Alicia - posted on 05/03/2010

I had an epidural for an emergency c-section, I could feel things but no pain was the weirdest thing ever, felt like someone was pushing on my stomach during the procedure but 100% pain free

Melissa - posted on 05/03/2010

When I had my son, I got an epidural. It totally numbed all but a 12x12 "window" on my belly. They offered me more medication to offset it, but I declined because the window pain was very managable.

Lindsey - posted on 05/03/2010

I had one with my daughter and it took away all pain right up until the end. I guess it started to wear off b/c for the last few pushes it was very painful. It does help you to be able to sit back and relax(or get some sleep) and enjoy the process in the meantime. I don't know how enjoyable the whole experience would have been had I not gotten one, and I will definately do it agai !

Amber - posted on 05/03/2010

I couldn't feel anything but most doctors turn the medicine off so you can push correctly..

Jasmine - posted on 05/03/2010

Well i had pain medicine and then an epidural and i didnt feel anything at all while giving birth.

Sheryl - posted on 05/03/2010

I am a L&D nurse and a mom who took the epidural. An epidural does work well at taking away the pain of the contractions and is beneficial if it looks like you are going to have a long labor. An epidural will not take the pressure feeling because that's caused by the baby moving down, you need to feel that pressure so that you can push correctly. That said, sometimes an epidural isn't effective at all. I ended up with a c-section and my epidural had been working well up until that point and then the tube in my back must have slipped because I felt all the cutting of my c-section.