For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Why You Should Consider Epidural For Your Delivery

When you think of delivering a baby, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is the pain involved. Women who have undergone childbirth will tell how painful childbirth is.

And every woman who is pregnant for the first time lives in terror of the impending pain they would have to face soon enough. Fortunately, modern medicine has come up with quite a few ways to help you in reducing the pain and to deal with it.

Why you should consider epidural for your delivery

Epidural is a way in which pain relief is given to a mother who is undergoing labor. It is basically an anesthetic that is given to numb you waist down. This way you will not feel the pain of labor but will generally feel contractions enabling you to push when required. If you cannot feel the contractions, your doctor will tell you when to push and you may follow his instructions.

Today, we shall learn more about epidural and why it may be a good option for a pain-free delivery. You also must understand that like every medical procedure, getting an epidural during childbirth too comes with some risk. Read on to know more.

  • Keep It In Your Plans As An Option
  • Epidurals Are Pretty Effective
  • Epidural Lets You Feel
  • With An Epidural, You Will Be Fully Aware Of Your Surroundings
  • The Dosage Of The Epidural Can Be Adjusted
  • You Will Not Be As Exhausted With The Use Of An Epidural
  • You Will Be In A Better Mood While Giving Birth With An Epidural
  • With An Epidural, You Will Not Hyperventilate
  • It Is Better For Resting During Labor
  • You Will Be Able To Focus Better On The Process Of The Delivery

• Keep It In Your Plans As An Option

It is often seen that pregnant mothers think that taking an epidural for childbirth is not ideal. And to an extent, it is true. Going for a natural labor is the best way that you can hope to bring your child into the world. But things don't always follow the plan. If there are complications in your delivery or if you feel that you just can't bear the pain, you can always opt for an epidural.

• Epidurals Are Pretty Effective

While other methods of pain relief may not be very reliable when it comes to delivering a baby, epidurals are very effective. Most women claim not to have felt a thing during the labor. Others say that the pain of the delivery was reduced to a bearable level due to the use of an epidural.

• Epidural Lets You Feel

After you get an epidural, you may not feel pain at all. But you will feel the doctor touching you and the pressure of your contractions. You will surely be able to feel the baby come out of you and this is a good thing as it is one of the most gratifying feelings for a mother.

• With An Epidural, You Will Be Fully Aware Of Your Surroundings

The epidural only takes away the sensation of pain from the lower part of your body. You will be completely awake and aware of the proceedings around you. You can push, talk and make decisions if needed. It is a great thing to be able to participate in the process of the birth of your child in a painless way. A general anesthetic, on the other hand, will deprive you of all these amazing moments.

• The Dosage Of The Epidural Can Be Adjusted

Most painkillers available today have a pre-determined dosage that has to be administered for it to be effective in the body. On the other hand, an epidural's dosage can be adjusted in response to the patient's pain threshold and other factors. If you want a complete pain relief, you may ask the doctor to increase the dosage of the epidural and if you feel that you can bear a little pain, you can opt for the delivery on the minimum amount of epidural.

• You Will Not Be As Exhausted With The Use Of An Epidural

Giving birth is a serious business and is very tiring at the same time. The pain involved can make the whole experience all the worse. The pain can make you so exhausted that you reach a point when you feel that you cannot push anymore. Such a situation will need the doctor to take the baby out using alternative methods of assisted birth which include cesarean section, forceps, and vacuum delivery. If the epidural is administered early in the labor, you may be less exhausted and may be able to push more actively. This will help avoid unnecessary procedures for the birth of your child.

• You Will Be In A Better Mood While Giving Birth With An Epidural

The pain of childbirth will make you feel distraught, helpless, angry and irritable. Your baby too will feel tensed and stressed in response to your feelings. For the best interests of your baby and yourself, you must go through the delivery with a calm and composed mind. It will also help those around you to focus on their work better. An epidural will help lessen your pain and struggle and will make your disposition calm and composed. This is good for you, the baby and everyone involved.

• With An Epidural, You Will Not Hyperventilate

Hyperventilation is one of the ways that the body reacts to stress when under pain. When in undue pain, the body goes into a fight or flee mode. This causes your body to hyperventilate and your heart beats faster causing your blood pressure to rise. Each of this is a bad thing when you are trying to give birth to a new life. An epidural will reduce your pain exponentially and will save your body from going into a fight or flee mode. This way, you will not hyperventilate and your blood pressure won't rise either.

• It Is Better For Resting During Labor

When in labor, you cannot feel comfortable enough to rest between labor. Resting is very important especially at the start of the labor as you need to conserve your strength for the active labor stages. Epidural helps to rest better in the earlier phases of labor when you wait for the proper dilation of your cervix.

• You Will Be Able To Focus Better On The Process Of The Delivery

When in deep pain, you can hardly focus on anything, let alone trying to birth a baby. The pain will lead you to be distracted from all the pushing you need to do. If you feel like you are unable to focus on the birthing process, you may use the epidural to help you.

Read more about: prenatal labor