Epidural anesthesia for childbirth is the introduction of drugs through a catheter placed in the epidural space of the spine to alleviate pain during labor and delivery.
Advice
Try to predict when you want to get it 30 minutes or an hour before you will need it: don’t wait until you are desperate. And at that point, SPEAK UP right away, because you will have to get the anesthesiologist off the floor and if you wait too long, the opportunity to get one might pass.
Stories
Epidural for Childbirth
The doctor who walked in to do it was young and nervous-looking. It was hard to sit still on the bed to get the initial Lidocaine injection because of the strength of my contractions. Read More
Charlotte, female, 36, Massachusetts
Epidural for Childbirth
At a pivotal time in childbirth, when all you want is a bit of relief as you try to get through each contraction, imagine someone telling you that your husband couldn't hold your hand or be near you, and you had to stay as still as possible, while someone injected a long needle into your back. Read More
Karen, female, 34, Connecticut
Epidural for Childbirth
For the birth of our second child, the experience was uneventful. I had a great doctor who was kind (my husband was allowed to hold my hand and the doctor didn't yell at me), and an expert in delivering the epidural. Read More
Karen, female, 34, Connecticut
Epidural for Childbirth
If I waited too long, the opportunity to get one might pass, and then I would have been on my own with the doctor’s hand straight up me doing whatever she was going to be doing with Baby B (I had twins) and feeling every minute of it. Read More
Jessica, female, 31, California
