You’re in the midst of painful contractions, you’re exhausted, you feel as though you can’t take it any longer and your birth plan is tucked in a folder somewhere in your suitcase. After months of planning and decisions, you’re about to throw the towel and beg for mercy. The nurse offers an epidural, even though you originally said you didn’t want one. Should you take it?
First of all realize that you are not a failure if you decide to take the epidural, but do ask yourself a few questions before you change your mind.
How strongly did you feel about avoiding pain medication before labor began? This question is best answered by your spouse, who is not currently in heaps of pain. Before the pains hits, ask your spouse to help you back up your decision when the going gets tough. Spouses: remind your lovely wife of the reasons she wanted to avoid pain medication and encourage her. I remember my husband whispering to me that he was proud of how tough I was, especially after watching that horrible childbirth video a few weeks earlier. That was the extra encouragement I needed to make it through transitional labor.
How far dilated are you? If you get an epidural too early in the game, you raise your risk of having a cesarean. On the other hand, if you get the epidural too late, the hardest part is likely past and the medication may interfere with pushing. Narcotics late in labor may cause respiratory depression in the baby.
How long have you been in labor? If it has taken you two days to get to five centimeters, an epidural may allow you to get the rest you need to gear up for the final stages of labor. If you’ve had plenty of rest beforehand and labor is progressing well, you may want to persevere rather than run the risk of having the epidural slow your labor.
Do you have a history of prior traumatic labor? Knowing that pain medication is available on request may be what gets you through. Try to be optimistic, however, past experiences don’t necessarily determine how well your labor will go this time. Every birth is different!
Have you just received discouraging news? Process everything and allow the initial fear to pass. Don’t make a decision about pain medication when you’re discouraged. The urge to give up will soon pass and you may regret your decision later.
Have you tried everything else? There are many ways to cope with labor pain. Make sure you’ve exhausted all your efforts before getting an epidural. Natural coping methods don’t have any side effects to worry about and they can’t make the pain worse than it already is; they can only make it better.