Did you have an epidural or not? What is your age?

Question

I was told when I had my last baby (3 months ago) that I was one of the VERY FEW who didn't have an pain medication.They said, "only one in 10 actually try it without medication, and only 1% of them actually do it".Is it really that rare now to have a baby now without medication?

Answer 1

I used the epidural with my twins (2 yrs ago) but didn't with my first son.  It took very well, and actually got some rest prior to the birth!  I would highly recomend the epidural.  

Answer 2

Those stats are probably true for the area you live in. I am 24 weeks and do NOT want an epidural! I have already discussed it with my OB/GYN and she said in this area (southeast GA) 95% of the women go into labor wanting an epidural. I was honestly surprised at how supportive she was is with my decision. She suggested I take childbirth classes and hypnobirthing classes, which made me like her even more :)  

Answer 3

While epidurals ARE quite common -- I would suspect that a 99% medicated birth rate is higher than actual statistics.

(THough, if your hospital pushes meds and doesn't support unmedicated labors, it may be true at YOUR hospital.)

I can't find any U.S. statistics on epidural rates (and even fewer on pain medication rates in general.)  In the U.K. it looks like about 40% of women who give birth in hospital have an epidural.  In Canada it's about 45%.  I seem to remember seeing statistics from some years ago citing a roughly 75% rate for U.S. births, but I can't seem to find that article now.

(And yes, I had an epidural. Gave birth 16 1/2 years ago at 30 years of age.)

EDIT:  Aha!  Found a few studies.  

1. One small Israeli study had a 95% epidural rate...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18499...

2.  Another U.S. study found an overall (including cesarean births -- which obviously require anesthesia) 82.4% rate of anesthesia in labor, with 65% having an epidural.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17877...

3. And one on the effect of birth plans on epidurals.  57% of patients with a birth plan had an epidural, compared to 78% of those without a birth plan.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17977...

Answer 4

I had an epidural, and it was nice. I will do it again! I am 19 and was with my delivery.

Answer 5

Natural water birth.

Answer 6

I had no intention of going "all natural" during my childbirth experience.  I watched my sister use a bunch of different pain management options in an attempt to avoid the epidural.  She was absolutely high as a kite off of them.  I didn't want that, so I chose to get the epidural after 9 hours of labour (6cm dilated).  

It was great.  Within 2 hours I was 9cm.  Seven hours later I was still 9cm because my baby was too bigfor my pelvis and would not move down the birth canal.  I ended up needing a c-section anyway.

Answer 7

I am a 36 year old mother of 3. I am small and only weigh about 108. I had my first at 19 and she weighed 10 pounds when she was born. I had an epidural the first two times. The last time I did not get one, She was born too quickly. I hurt so bad, i would have never done that by choice. Get the epidural......unless you have a high tolerance for pain.

Answer 8

I had 4 all natural. No epidural, nothing. I hurts like h**l but I did it. I don't like the idea of not knowing what is going on with my body. I want to be able to feel to know that everything is okay. I know some say I was crazy but I think that I was just one of the lucky ones that had an easy labor all four times. My babies were not small babies they were all about 7.5 which is average size for most babies. Also I think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.

Us stong woman make the others feel bad that they could not handle the pain. LOL

Answer 9

I had my first child totally without any meds,  I had Nubain with my second and third children.

Answer 10

Baby #1 I went into labor naturally and I had an epidural after many hours of hard labor and vomiting.  Took FOREVER to recover just from the back pain.  I was 23 when I had her.

Baby #2 I was induced for 3 days and I went without.  I had no issues recovering from her birth like I did with my first daughter.  Not to mention I only had to push 3 times with #2 and for over 2 hours with #1.  I was 30 when I had her.

Baby #3 I am going all natural again.  I am due in December again and I am 31.  

Answer 11

i don't believe those statistics. i'm not sure about how many people try it but the success rate for those who try natural drug free medication without preparation classes is 40%  but with classes the success rate (depending on the class) is as high as 90%. i am 27 and will be doing the bradley method and have full confidence that i will be able to have a wonderful drug free birth.

Answer 12

I did with my first two, and both times had really bad experiences with it.  I thought the 1st time was a fluke until the same thing happened.  So, i'm about to have #3 and am really trying/hoping I can get through without anything.  I think the key to that is to try to make sure I don't get any pitocin unless it's medically necessary!!  i'm 28.