My Experience

I have had two children and two very different epidural experiences. The first is a very unpleasant memory. I was knowledgeable about the different types of pain relief I could receive during childbirth, however, I wasn’t prepared for the inhumane delivery of the epidural which I received with my first child. 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. Then, imagine that the inexperienced resident who is giving you the epidural can’t find the right spot and pokes you more than once with a needle. During this you are reprimanded for moving too much, while the tears are streaming down your face due to the painful contractions and now this crazy man practicing on your body and yelling at you for his ineptness. Eventually, he managed to do it, however, months after the delivery I still had pain in my back at the site of the injection when I leaned against, say, a chair. The good news is it eventually healed (maybe 6-9 months later.)