I've had three epidural, the first 2 were fab but the one I had with my son wasn't done properly and made things worse.

First is find out who will do it and how many they have done and his or her success rate. The Dr who did my last one had done very few and I felt every pain of every contraction. Plus the damn thing fell out and I didn't full dose until near the end which was worthless anyway.

Moving on to the successful epidurals, I can say those were fantastic, I was able to rest before delivering and had plenty strength to push. It does make the labour slow down a little and you can feel the muscles moving but there is no pain. It can take up to 4hrs before you can walk around with out your legs giving way but is a small price to pay.

As I see it start without it but if the labour is slow and your tiring....go for it. The second labour is usually quicker then your first and you do recover quicker if you don't have an epidural but like all things it has it's place. As long as the is DR compentent (anaethesiologist) and knows what they are doing, there should be no long term effects and no damage done to your spine or cord. You have the right to check the creditials of a DR and refuse to have Drs treat you if you feel they are not qualified, something I wish I did when I gave birth to my son. The Dr totally screwed up my epidural!

I hope this helps.

Cheers Raven

I have delivered twice via c-section (singleton and twins). With my first, it wasn't a planned c-section, but we knew my baby would be big and knew the possibility of a c-section so we went ahead with the epidural.

One of my leg went numb with it, but the other I had feeling. I felt the contractions, but only as pressure - without pain. I pushed for 3 hours with no luck until we made the decision to go ahead with the c-section. After 3 hours of pushing, I can honestly say that I could go on. I was exhausted, but I think had I not had epidural I would have been more exhausted.

My blood pressure also dropped with epidural, which is a common reaction to it. It's nothing serious. They gave me a dose of medicine and that was it.

Good luck to you!

My epidural was fantastic!!!! I was completely pain free. As a matter of fact, my leg feel off the bed and I could NOT get it to go back on....my hubby had to do it. It was really funny.

I was up and about 4-5 hours after delivery.

My midwife just watched my monitor and told me when to push and when to stop. She had to do this becuase my epidural was sooo effective, I could NOT feel anything, oh the bliss!!! ;-)

I had NO tears and Jedd was delivered without the aid of a vacuum.

ok im gonna scare you now with this one ( only joking) i chose an epi with my son cos my contractions where way to painful, even the dr said to have it done.  as the dr was putting the needle into my spine ( yes into the spine) i was suffering contractions through my back ( called back labour).  as soon as he was finished the pain just disappered then the trouble started, i started to fall asleep, got a fever and my son was in danger of suffercating as he wasnt recieving oxygen, i had a emergency  csection blah blah blah.....

ok scared now?   no its not that bad its a one off that i got sick from the epi,  its blocks the pain out fully and they give u a button that you press if u feel any of the contractions then when the dr sees ur 9 cm they cut the epi back a little so u can start pushing.

I know my sister had an epidural with both her pregnancies. and her first one was a girl. she got stuck 4 times and it ended up wearing off right after she had her. i just had my son in december and I was all for the epidural. when I got it, I only needed it once and it worked great. then my sister had her son about 3 weeks ago and she had another epidural and she only needed to be stuck once instead of the 4 times with her first child.  I would recommend it to anyone that is having a baby. you dont feel the contractions and you get to relax right before the big pushing session. haha.

 I had a epi 1st time around, it was great, i couldnt feel a thing, apart from a bit in my back but it must have been where bub was laying, when i was pushing i couldnt feel anything and ended up having a little help from vacume lol. could walk soon after.

2nd time (1 year later), asked for it as i walked in the door but they took ages cause of another emergency C. they finaly got it in after heaps of poking >.< it didnt work as she was born less then 1/2 hour later so i had full pain (luckly had gas). got up and walked soon after that one 2.

I liked my epi but it was also nice to feel the 2nd come out hehe.

I had an epidural.  I still knew when I was having a contraction, I could feel my stomach tighten.  When it came to pushing, I felt it.  The medical professionals like you to be able to feel when it comes to pushing to assist them.  If you are completely numb it is supposed to be harder to push so I have heard.  I did not mind feeling the pushing.  Yes it hurts I won't lie to you.  There are also different strengths of epidural.  I had the minimum one.  When you next see your midwife/obstetrician or doctor ask them to run through pain relief with you.  When I was about 34 weeks my obstetrician when through pain relief and once I had decided to go with an epidural she booked me in to meet the anaesthetist who explained to me exactly what was going to take place and what the risks were.  Do not feel embarassed to ask for pain relief it is Ok.  I wish you well, and let us know what type of pain relief you have chosen.  All the best.