Is it just panadol or can you take something else once labour is fully underway at home?
Is it just panadol or can you take something else once labour is fully underway at home?
Hmmm, not sure, but I personally would advoid taking any kind of strong medication at the start of labour. If you end up needing further medication it could interfere with dosages... what ever you take make sure you tell any health professional who supports you in labour. Say you needed to have an emergency anaesthesia this would be very important.
Non medical pain relief, i have found, works well because it doesn't leave you feeling drowsy. Some strong medications will probably make you want to sleep/lie down... whereas an active labour is usually the best way to go (generally speaking). For me hot water does wonders for pain relief. I'd try that first. A fit ball under a hot shower can really hit the spot once labour is established.
Panadol or Panadeine (panadeine forte if you have a script)
Showers, baths heat packs, massage, music are all great for pain relief at home and in hospital.
Also hire a TENS machine from physio dept.
First of all try a hot bath. That helped me immensly when I was in propper, established labour. But I also took panadene forte during prelabour. Only once, and only on advice from the midwives. They checked me out before giving it to me too.
yep, distraction is a good way to go at various stages... music can be great for this.... persoanlly i found that soft new-age whale sounds etc were NOT helpful LOL I thought it would be the kind of thing I would want to hear but it turned out that it annoyed the cr@p out of me!!! :lol: I ended up discovering that wearing headphones with loud, rhythmic techno was actually more useful... oh and Kate Bush... she was great during my third labour :)
ETA: yeah don't hop in a warm bath until you are in well established...rocking from side to side and groaning kinda labour... often a warm bath can relax you too much and actually slow labour down if you hop in too early.
Bath worked for me with DD1, but I had to get out, coz my ctns slowed right down.
Shower with DD2 on my back between ctns & on my belly during ctns.
If contractions start late in the night or very early morning and don't start at 5 mins - more like 15 - panadeine forte is fine - will take the edge off and hopefully let you get a few more hours sleep before the main event when you will need your conserved energy! ;)
Sometimes hospitals policy is if you have had contractions for a day of so but not close but you are tired ... (specially if first time) and are only a couple of cms dilated they will send you home with temazepan and panadeine forte to help you get a couple of hours sleep as first labours can often be looooooong
hope that helps :D
Don't take panadiene or sleeping pills if you are 5mins apart or less.
Hospital advised me to go home (nad gave me the pills) not expecting to see me back with both of those and my water broke an hour after i took a sleeping pill. I was high and delirious, extraoridnarily tired for the rest of my labour and i strongly believe that it was the hardest part, coping through the tiredness induced by temazepam.
Thanks. This is second labour for me, first was reasonably quick and drug free but would have loved to relax/sleep a little bit as it started in the middle of the night (before I had a chance to fall asleep) so ended up being awake for 2 days as baby was born mid-morning and I was too pumped to sleep the day he was born (or that night for that matter!). A few hours sleep in early labour, during the night would have been helpful - not thinking sleeping tablet but strongish pain medication. Why can't labour start first thing in the morning after a good nights sleep!
Will ask hospital what I can take when I contact them in early labour anyway but thanks for your replies.
Tell me about it Jac! My labour started at 9pm, and I gave birth at 11am! I'd had a really tiring week too, and it had been my baby shower that day. We were all soooooooo tired!
I hope you go into labour at a more convienent time this time around LOL.
Yes long labours or sleepless prior to them ones are really draining :(
I only slept two hours before my contractions started so I ended up being awake from 9am Friday to 11pm Sunday night with two hours sleep and forty minutes sleep in between. It was awesome :rolleyes:
During labour I was advised to take Panadeine Forte by one of the midwives I spoke to. Luckily I had some in the house or it would've meant a visit to hossy to get some and then go home. If you don't have any in your house make sure you get some. It only took the edge off things but it allowed me to manage at home until I was 6cms dilated.
My first labour started at 9pm too... what is with that??? Couldn't sleep for the rest of the night... ended up having a long chaotic labour (contractions weren't spaced... my labour was basically one long contraction especially after they tried to speed things up by putting my on a syncotin drip :( :( :( )
My other two labours were induced in the morning after a reasonable night's sleep. Slightly more managable. Still... avoiding syncotin/oxytocin would be the best way to go if you can... it's evil stuff. My doula at least helped me insist that i be given the minimum dose during my third labour... it still worked but it meant that my contractions were spaced like they were meant to be.