Epidurals and spinals..

[Mumma2Jack]

Hi all,
Feel as though i am being a pest with another question for you.
I am sure its written and been discussed here somwhere.

Anyway.I ran into a old friend today who is totally against VBAC.Told me i was mad.Anyway.After alot of just nodding and agreeing as i couldnt be bothered having this argument again with somone who has no idea..

She asked me if i was aware that i wouldnt be able to have an Eidural or Spinal if needed when in Labour.
Now i have done a bit of research and i dont think i have read that anywhere.
But thought i would ask you ladies.

That worrys me incase i need another Emergancy c/sec like with my DS. I dont want to be out of it when bubs is born..

I do hope somone can shed some light on this for me..:confused:

[mum2my4]

I am all for VBAC'S.

I considered a VBAC for my fourth but had a c/s anyway. The Dr's at the hospital I went to told me I would not be able to have an epidural during labour because if the worst case scenario happened I may not feel the uterus rupture, therefore would be at risk of it not being picked up. This is the reason I was given.

I went to a public hospital. But I truly believe it would be different in different hospitals.

I was knocked out for one of my c/s's too so understand why you want to avoid it.

[Funkychicken]

Hmmm..I haven't heard that before. I haven't had a C-sec or VBAC but from what I have read here and in magazines, I thought the hospital staff were keen for a mum having a VBAC, just in case a C-sec is needed in a hurry.
I am sure someone wiser on this will be able to shed some more light.

PS-Never think you are being a pest for asking questions here. There are many, many member's who genuinely want to help out. :thumbsup:

[Shanaynay]

Hi :wave:

I think they used to say no epidural/spinal during VBAC because it MAY mask uterine rupture.

But mostly now they don't mind you having one in, as if you need to have a c/s, it's already there.

And you would hope there would be a few signs of rupture anyway before it happened!

I had an epidural when I had my VBAC and no probs whatsoever :)

[MrsMiggins]

Wha....??!!

For a start, the first sign of uterine rupture is fetal distress - not maternal pain.

I was going for a VBAC with #2, and while I ended up needing a second c/s (and was given a spinal), there was never any issue with me having an epi/spinal if I'd have needed/requested one during labour.

[lukaelmo]

I had a VBAC just 2 weeks ago... asked for an epidural straight away and got it... was monitored all the way through and it was all good... popped out bubba and it was even better :D.

[mum2my4]

I knew it, another reason to think my hospital is dodgy:mad: and very behind the times I was told this 15mths ago.

[becca74]

Epidurals have their place, but you have to remember that they are a step on the ladder of the cascade of intervention, and must be used with caution.....

You are more likely to need a repeat c/sec if you try to vbac with an epidural. Ask to see if they can do a low dose one, if you desperately need one. I know if I'd have had an epidural during my vba2c last year, I wouldnt have been able to work with my body, feel the sensations, and use my instincts to get into the hands and knees position to shift my bubs who had shoulder dystocia. Because I could feel everything, I knew he wasnt budging, and then could feel him shift and move when I switched positions, and he came out perfectly. I wouldnt have had any idea of these things with an epi in, so they would have just sliced and diced me again.

Just something to think about.

[Mumma2Jack]

Thank you ladies:hugs: ..

Its great to hear.Even better to hear that some of you have had epi/spinal and vbac!!!:yelclap:

I know its best to hear all these things from people,but somtimes i feel like theres so much pressure to have a repeat c/sec..They almose make you feel guilty and selfish for wanting a vbac.
I keep getting told to "do whats best for baby"..And really thats what i am doing..

I am also sick of hearing that because this baby is also looking as though its going to be big that its safer to avoid VBAC!! grrr!!!!!:banghead:
(my DS was 10 pound).From the reading i have done,that shouldnt even be a problem..I am not a tiny thing myself!!

Sorry for the vent girls and going off the subject..

Thanks again for all your wisdom and support..:hugs:

[meatloafkend]

Some experts think that you would not be able to feel a problem in your uterus if you had an epidural. However, if you are in a hospital your baby will be monitored 24/7. The monitoring of the babies heartrate is the best way to tell if something is going wrong in your body. For this reason, MANY MANY doctors and hospitals feel there is NOTHING wrong with an epidural.

[becca74]

Some experts think that you would not be able to feel a problem in your uterus if you had an epidural. However, if you are in a hospital your baby will be monitored 24/7. The monitoring of the babies heartrate is the best way to tell if something is going wrong in your body. For this reason, MANY MANY doctors and hospitals feel there is NOTHING wrong with an epidural.

EFT is the means hospitals use so they dont have to monitor you 24/7, so they dont have to give you 1on1 'with woman' midwifery care. Machines can be faulty, and EFT, if it moves around, or the machine is working properly, can give out false readings. Mine kept slipping around, much to the frustration of my medwife at the hospy, and I ended up with my 2nd vbac failing because of it (amongst other pathetic reasons that I ended up with an unnecessary caesar).


One of the best first signs of UR is the sounds a woman is making. If you are attended 24/7 by a midwife, who does not leave your side during labour, a midwife who has attended births in this intimate 1on1 fashion for decades (mine had experienced 15 years of homebirths), then she is going to know what sounds right, and what sounds wrong. You will not be able to give any 'sound' signs if you have an epidural in.

At home, my Midwife put her stethoscope to my belly about every 10 minutes, she watched me like a hawk, and everything was perfect.

from: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/pelvis.asp



In a similar vein, I find it interesting that in 1999, doctors now advocate discontinuing the use of the electronic fetal monitor. This is something natural birth advocates have campaigned hard for and have not been able to accomplish in the past twenty years. The natural-types were concerned about possible harm to the baby from the Doppler ultrasound radiation as well as discomfort for the mother from the two tight belts around her belly. Now in l999, the doctors have joined the campaign to rid maternity wards of these expensive pieces of technology. Why, you ask. Because it has just dawned on the doctors that the very strip of paper recording fetal heart tones that they thought proved how careful and conscientious they were, and which they thought was their protection, has actually been their worst enemy in a court of law. A good lawyer can take any piece of "evidence" and find an expert to interpret it to his own ends. After a baby dies or is damaged, the hindsight people come in and go over these strips, and the doctors are left with huge legal settlements to make. What the literature indicates now is that when a nurse with a stethoscope listens to the "real" heartbeat through a fetoscope (not the bounced back and recorded beat shown on a monitor read-out) the cesarean rate goes down by 50 percent with no adverse effects on fetal mortality rates


Unfortunately, I dont know of any hospitals that provide a nurse or a midwife, GP or Obstetrician, who will stand with you, consistently for hours on end sticking a stethoscope to your belly........they just dont have the funds to employ 1 midwife per labouring woman from the beginning of her labour to the end.


But just to add balance, I had EFT with my 1st vbac, but that was in the UK, and I also didnt have an epidural, and I also gave birth at 36 weeks to a baby which was much smaller than my Term babies have been.

With adequate preparation for labour, you might find that wanting an epidural never enters your mind, even in the hardest parts of labour :thumbsup: , especially if you are sensing the calm, support and security of a midwife who is tuning in to you for the whole time you are in labour.