epidural - delivery?

[bobby1]

hey girls,

I know that I'm going to be having an epidural when it comes to the delivery of the LO as they recommend it to control BP.

I was just wondering as soon as I have the epidural, will I be completely restricted in terms of movement? Will I be able to walk at all? Or will I be confined to bed?

When it comes to actual delivery and pushing, is the only position I can do this in lying down? Do you know if I can sit up / go on all fours? or use any other delivery position?

thanks ladies xx

 

[hennaly]

im afraid you will be confined to a bed, they may sit you up a bit for the delivery but thats about it

 

[caz2008]

hi i had epidural with both of mine..with my first i still couldnt move the day after as my legs were both numb...but with my second i was able to walk 4 hours after having my son, i had to stay in bed after having the epidural i was laid on my side just before i needed to push, and i could feel enough to know when contractions were coming so that i knew when to push. and i didnt hardly feel any pain WOO HOO lol

 

[Jaidy]

Yeah you wont be able to move around in labour. You will be on a bed laying down, maybe on your side. You wont feel anything from your chest down...well I didnt!!

 

[LittleLambe]

I had a mobile epi and was able to walk around, go to the tolilet, and sit however I wanted. It was FANTASTIC! As I got to 10cm they let it wear off so I could feel what I was doing. I was laying on the bed but that was because of the drip and not the epi!!

 

[Grace'sMummy]

I had an epidural because my BP went sky high during labour. I couldn't move around, although I could feel down my left side strangely enough, but if you can let it wear off before you're ready to push I think it's easier to get baby out without any help. It wore off quite quickly though and it was sooo nice to get up and in the bath!!!

 

[gems]

At the hospital I gave birth in they do mobile epidurals so I could get out of bed with help to try to go to the toilet and I could walk and stand up ok very soon after the actual birth xxxx

 

[AnnaR2B]

You may be able to have a mobile epi where you can walk ( like i did) but then if its due to high BP they may monitor you constantly so you'll be stuck on the bed anyway!!! This is what happened with me

 

[Alicebabe]

You should ask if your hospital does mobile epidurals - I know for a fact that my local maternity hospital (Princess Anne) dont do them

 

[berit87]

Hey. I had an epidural (don't know what the bloody point was, it still hurt like hell, lol). Anyway, I was allowed to move but i didn't want to! All I wanted to do was lie down, just because the contractions still hurt so bad, not because I couldn't because of the epidural. I could feel my legs went a bit numb but when I started moving them it went back to normal. I was very disappointed as I don't think it helped at all but people are different. My MW also said that epidural was teh reason my labour was 14 hours when it could've been a lot less. Well, good luck and all the best!

 

[Tillytots]

I had an epidural and could still feel my legs. The epi I had was topped up every half hour or so so when I got close to 10cm they didnt top it up so it wore off and I could feel everything and could've pushed in any position I wanted. They didnt say it was a mobile epi but they did say they give them differently now in little doses at a time. I had to be monitored alot for my BP and James heart rate so they wouldnt have let me wander off anywhere but it was nice knowing I could've walked xx

ETA: if you arent in any pain you wont worry about being in bed relaxing its the best place to be, conserving energy