Beliefnet posted an interesting article about the choices women have to make during child birth. Should I have an epidural? Should I try to go natural? Should I take oral pain medicine?
Now there is even another option, walking epidurals. This new that combines pain relievers, as opposed to a spinal shot, allows movement and the feeling of contractions because it only affects the abdominal nerves. Women are able to feel the sensation when they need to push which helps labor progress, and little or no of the drugs are passed on to the baby.
The article talked about the side effects traditional epidurals can have such as severe headache and slow labor progression which leads to increased use of forceps to assist with delivery. This actually happened to me.
I definitely new I wanted the epidural. When we arrived at the hospital I was lucky enough that I was progressed enough I could receive it. In about 20 minutes I was so relieved when the contractions went away, but about 10 minutes later I got the worst headache of my life. It made me vomit and very weak. When it came time to push, almost 6 hours later, I was exhausted. I pushed for two hours, the whole time not feeling that I was helping the baby move down through the birth canal. Sure enough 2 hours and 15 minutes later, the doctor used forceps to get my son out.
If I have another one, the new walking epidural is really something I will consider. I'm curious if anyone has any experience with this new procedure.
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