Pain Relief During Labor

I've got quite a few months until the birth of my son but I'm thinking of trying an all-natural birth and wondering what people have used for pain relief.  I've been reading mixed reviews on TENS but thought about considering that as a possibility...aswell as considering water birth.  I have a VERY LOW pain threshold and my extreme anxiety (due to my intolerance of pain) contributed to my previous labor not progressing properly.  What type of pain relief did you use during labor and what did/did not work for you?  I know every person is different, I'm just looking for ideas of things to consider (I'd prefer to have l20 possible options and try them all before moving on to drugs).

With DD I was in labour for just about 12 hours using Paracetamol, warm baths (before TENS), TENS, Diamorphine and Entonox (Gas & Air).  The Diamorphine worked pretty well, but that was until they gave me the Entonox.  Once I had the Entonox everything was brilliant.  DH got a real kick out of some of the comments I was making between my attempts to sleep.

With DS I was in labour for just under 4 hours using TENS, birthing ball and Entonox only - by choice.  They knew I had Diamorphine with my previous labour and that it was an option I was keeping open.  I decided to try it with just the TENS and Entonox firt and glad I did!  The birthing ball doesn't help with pain per se, but does help labour progress quicker.  Once I had the Entonox I was really leaning on the side of the bed to prevent myself from bouncing myself off the ball and onto the floor!   

If you can tolerate morphine I believe you should be able to tolerate the Entonox (it can make some people sick).  Usually if you attend a birth workshop a Midwife will allow you to tryout the Entonox so you can see if that will be a viable option for you or not...  There is no real side effect passed onto baby with either, in fact the added oxygen because of the Entonox is supposed to be beneficial to baby and because it's a gas it leaves your system very fast.  You can take the Entonox up until you're pushing baby out.

Self-hypnosis (Hypnotherapy), a friend of mine did this with only for her first son and was quite positive about it, but she didn't keep it up with her 2nd son. 
Aromatherapy (however you won't be allowed candles if you have a hospital birth)...
Birthing pool / water birth - a friend of mine just did this last year in her home with only Entonox.

Good luck!

I coped with the labor as long as I could (I, too, was going for natural.) Until everything went downhill and they had to move me out of the birthing centre... I didn't use anything for the contractions. If I was standing, I walked around a lot in little circles during a contraction. I don't know why, but it helped. Or if I was sitting down, I rotated my hips a lot, which also helped. I also had a bathroom with a bathtub attached to the room (nice!) and I had like four lavender baths... which were SO GOOD. Since I wasn't giving birth in them, I was allowed to have them a bit warmer than if I had been in the birthing pool.

I was awake so long and so unbelievably tired after 35+ hours, but still coping, however was getting just a tad antsy because everything was moving so slow. The midwife was surprised I still hadn't touched the gas and air, so she said to just give it a try.

Man, I wanted to use nothing in labor... but that stuff was great. I felt the contractions completely while having them, however because you have to breathe in the gas and air during the contraction... it helped me pace my breath and just zone in on breathing during them and keep my focus as they got stronger. Once the contraction subsided and I took the mouthpiece away... I felt goo-o-od. I felt like my voice was 10 octaves lower and I was saying some ridiculous things, and I knew I was saying silly things, so I'd get a bit giggly. My mother and husband got some well-needed humor as they were also sleep deprived, because neither had ever seen me on anything like it or act that way (I don't drink... I don't do anything.)
My husband was eating Ben and Jerry's and I had to have some while using it. The combo was a nice one! I didn't use the gas and air until I was over 6cm.

I have heard it works for some and not for others. I dug it, though!

Neither TENS nor gas and air worked for me at all. So just be prepared for that because it can happen! The gas and air also instantly made my mouth dry I felt dehydrated and that really pissed me off!

My best advice for any birth is to research all the options, go with what you think you will feel comfortable with in your birth plan, but be prepared to accept that things may go better or worse than you plan!

I had intended to use the hospital's birthing pool but my little guy had other ideas. I started on gas & air, then morphine and finally when things got dicey they moved me out of the midwife unit and into the hospital bit so I could have an epidural. In the end I had to have an emergency c-section. I don't tell you this as a horror story but as a warning that your best plans and intentions can go completely by the wayside! Just be prepared and know what all your options are so that you can cope with changing situations. Also, while the gas was great, I used it so much that my throat got really sore!
Best of luck.
Lee

I constantly drank water in between using the gas and air to prevent mouth dryness. It worked pretty well.

I constantly drank water in between using the gas and air to prevent mouth dryness. It worked pretty well.

They wouldn't give me any because they were already on to the fact I might need an emergency c-sec.

How was everyone on pethidine or diamorphine? I'm afraid to use them because they can affect the babies and the last thing I want is two floppy girls who can't feed well. It'll freak me out.

On the other hand, I'm worried about how an epidural can slow a labour down and potentially cause distress with the babies.

Any advice? I will gladly admit that I have no intention of doing this naturally. I want the drugs and I want a lot of them. I'm just undecided with the pros and cons of the options.

Oh I definitely know that things change.  After 52 hrs of labor with my daughter, I was forced to have an epidural (because they were going to prepare me for a c-section)...and was quite happy with the results from that (I dilated from 2cm to 10cm and my daughter was delivered within 45 minutes of receiving it).  I'm not opposed to having an epidural this time around either...but I'm trying to focus on pain management before that and also preparing for the possibility that an epidural is not always an option...aside from hoping that I might actually be able to manage without due to the physical freedom associated with no epidural. 

I was induced early with my daughter...so I was completely restricted the entire time I was in labor.  I also had complications so I was hooked up to tons of machines and I actually got yelled at by the nurse at one point in time for moving my leg 3 inches because it messed up one of the readings.     I'm looking forward to (God willing) going into labor naturally and being able to spend some of that time at home and having the freedom to be able to move into different positions.  I've also been told by several people that being induced makes the contractions worse...not sure if that's true or not but I'm excited to have that "I'm in labor" moment as opposed to "We're starting the pitocin now so you'll start feeling contractions".

I'm definitely hanging up drugs as a last resort though.  I was so doped up on pain meds with my daughter that at one point I tried to rip my IV out because I was convinced the doctor was trying to kill me by putting poison in it.  Also I could tell the pain meds negatively impacted my daughter for over a week after being born.

i started with happy gas, which was lovely but not strong enough, and then received several shots of pethadine. i wouldn't recommend it. i felt like those people who claim to have lost time during alien abductions. i can't remember a whole lot from the 19 hours of labour, which might not be a bad thing.

I had one baby with no pain relief at all and one baby with an epidural.  If I had a choice I'd go with an epidural all the way.  It didn't slow my labor and I felt no pain.  I have no experience with any of the other kinds of drugs.  One of my best friends told me the painkiller the hospital gave her in the US made her feel like she was drunk/disoriented but still in pain.

How was everyone on pethidine or diamorphine? I'm afraid to use them because they can affect the babies and the last thing I want is two floppy girls who can't feed well. It'll freak me out.

On the other hand, I'm worried about how an epidural can slow a labour down and potentially cause distress with the babies.

Any advice? I will gladly admit that I have no intention of doing this naturally. I want the drugs and I want a lot of them. I'm just undecided with the pros and cons of the options.

Can't speak for Pethedine, but Diamorphine was ok (for me at least).  DD wasn't floppy, she just dozed a bit extra for the first day or 2, but turned out to be a pretty placid baby and fed extremely well too.

I've heard of epidurals given to women with heart / stress conditions as it's supposed to help maintin mother's health during labour.  If you're concerned about epiduruals etc. you may want to speak with your Midwife to see what they can recommend or help you better as you're having twins instead of just 1 baby...   

To get a perspective of Pros & Cons of the different methods of pain relief on the NHS:

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/pregnancy/pages/painrelief.aspx
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/labourandbirth/painrelief/

Baby#1:  Epidural after waters breaking and contractions every 2-3 minutes for 8 hours and only 3cm dilated.  Within an hour, 10 cm and ready to push.  Brilliant pain relief, but couldn't pee for over 12 hours after (side effect of epidural)

Baby#2:  Morphine only as no diamorphine in country and found it useless.  Gave me a dry mouth, but didn't help much with pain.  J came out rather blue, just needed a little blow by oxygen.

Baby #3:  Diamorphine.  Yuck.  Had visual hallucinations of a young Michael Jackson with an afro singing every time I closed my eyes.  Funny at first, but a little disturbing.  It helped a little with pain, but I wasn't with it enough to cope very well.  A was fine.  I was almost useless for a good couple hours as it was given just an hour before I delivered.  Don't understand for the life of me why any one would take this stuff recreationally. 

To get a perspective of Pros & Cons of the different methods of pain relief on the NHS:

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/pregnancy/pages/painrelief.aspx
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/labourandbirth/painrelief/

Cheers hon. That's very helpful.

Baby#1:  Epidural after waters breaking and contractions every 2-3 minutes for 8 hours and only 3cm dilated.  Within an hour, 10 cm and ready to push.  Brilliant pain relief, but couldn't pee for over 12 hours after (side effect of epidural)

Baby#2:  Morphine only as no diamorphine in country and found it useless.  Gave me a dry mouth, but didn't help much with pain.  J came out rather blue, just needed a little blow by oxygen.

Baby #3:  Diamorphine.  Yuck.  Had visual hallucinations of a young Michael Jackson with an afro singing every time I closed my eyes.  Funny at first, but a little disturbing.  It helped a little with pain, but I wasn't with it enough to cope very well.  A was fine.  I was almost useless for a good couple hours as it was given just an hour before I delivered.  Don't understand for the life of me why any one would take this stuff recreationally. 

Kathleen, I'm just curious why you didn't go with an epidural for your last two pregnancies if you had such a good experience with the first one?