by Lori King

Created on: January 12, 2009

It is hard to make a decision about your pregnancy, especially when it comes to what methods to use when giving birth. Should you go natural or take some sort of medication to ease the pain?

When I had both of my children, I had epidurals both times. Although I do believe that I could have gone without it with my second child. It is really hard to say what you will want until that moment comes. Some women have very limited pain and feel that the pain is not big enough for an epidural. The pain that I had with my first daughter was back labor.

The back labor was tremendous and was far worse than the contractions. The muscles in my back would spasm and cramp up, causing everything else to hurt worse than what it would have without it. This is why i chose an epidural. I was able to go a little bit but the back pain was just too much to handle. The labor itself did not last very long.

When I was in labor with my second child, I did not have back pains and the contractions were very small and felt like nothing more than a menstrual cramp. So why did I get an epidural this time? I was afraid that I would get the back pains as the labor progressed. I was afraid that it would be a repeat of the first pregnancy but surprisingly, my second daughter came out weighing much more but causing less pain. I thought to myself afterward that I could have done that one without the drugs but I chose to use them because of my bad experience with pain the first time.

My first daughter was smaller but caused a lot of pain. I feel that this is something that just has to be decided once you are in the situation and ready to go. I would recommend having the nurse write down that you would like one just in case, which is what I did. The nurse wrote down that I was considering one but would not officially decide until it was time. Once I was in the hospital, then the nurses hooked up all of the tubes necessary for the drugs so that way if I decided I needed them, then I could push the button and the drugs would start and if not, then I didn't have to push the button at all.

This is a good thing to do in case you are unsure of what you want, that way when you arrive and are in labor, you can decide if the pain is okay and bearable or if you need that drug after all. Either way, it is there if you feel you need it. This is my recommendation and I feel it would be something worth doing. Having a back up is always very handy. By having the IV hooked up, you can make the call YES or NO. The choice is still yours.

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