An epidural for all those soon to be mother’s out there who do not know is simply a procedure that dulls the pain during the delivery of your baby. An epidural uses a long needle that is placed in to your lower back between the bones on your spine and allows medicine to drip in and immediately enter your nervous system so the pain is dulled out and you are able to get some rest while you are contracting. Many women approve of getting this procedure while they are having their baby in order to feel just a little bit better than they would with other pain medication and in order for them to get some rest during contractions, but not all women think that this method of pain killing is appropriate. Some women believe that an epidural simply takes away the effects of child birth and never get this procedure. It is never up to your doctor or nurse, it is always up to you if you want the procedure so the best way to decide if an epidural is something you would want is to get all the information you can about this method of pain killing during delivery. The risks and benefits of having an epidural during the delivery of your baby are listed below.
Risks of having an epidural:
1. The most common reason that women do not receive an epidural during the delivery of the baby really is hardly a risk at all, it is simply because they think that child birth is all about the “natural” way. Natural meaning that there are no medications of any kind even though the pain can sometimes be horrible for the mother, and for the baby who is under enough stress as it is. Natural child birth is perfectly fine as long as you can handle the pain on your own or with the help of a labor coach or midwife.
2. The second most common reason that many women do not end up using an epidural during the delivery of their baby is because they do not like the idea of having a needle placed in their spinal cord. This can be very scary to think about but it does not have to be something that worries you if you believe that you should receive an epidural. The risk that comes with a needle being placed between the bones of your spinal cord is numbness at the site. The numbness that you will experience when the needle is placed where it needs to go almost always goes away but there have been times that women have never gotten this feeling back and blame it solely on the epidural that they received during delivery.
3. The last reason that many women do not want an epidural during delivery is because when the medicine is taken out of your back you are not able to move around or walk for a little bit of time. Most women do not want to walk from the stress of delivery but some women do and an epidural just does not let that happen. Since the medicine that is inside the needle of the epidural is actually a numbing medicine rather than a pain killer like Vicodin you are not able to move around or feel pain. Not being able to move around or walk right away causes problems for mother’s if that’s what they wanted to do.
Benefits of having an epidural:
1. An epidural numbs the pain that you will feel when you are contracting during delivery. When you hit the second stage of your contractions you will notice that you are in a whole lot of pain that you have probably never felt before. This pain can be very tiring and exhausting for any mother new or old. This is why an epidural is such a great thing. An epidural not only administers pain relieving numbing medicine but it makes the contractions seem much weaker than they originally did before you were given the procedure.
2. Another great reason to have an epidural is if you want to get some rest in before your baby is delivered. If you are one of the many women who take a long time to get to ten centimeters dilated then an epidural might just be the best thing for you. Instead of being in a lot of pain and not feeling so well you can get the epidural procedure and start to feel a little better. Some women find that they feel completely better and are able to rest all the way up until they are ready to push. This not only will make you much more calm but it can help make delivery a lot less painful and a lot less stressful for you and your new baby.
As you can see there are reasons why you should get an epidural and there are reasons why you should not. Making the decision to either receive or not get an epidural is completely up to you. You can always talk to one of your nurses or doctor for more information on the procedure if you need more information. They may be able to make your decision a little easier than you thought it would be. No matter which decision you go with delivery of a new baby is always a blessing that women go through with or without medication. Good luck!
