Pethidine

hi,

i was just after some information and personal experiences with pethidine. my hospital has told me that this is their most commonly used pain releif option (although they are more then willing to provide anyother medication that i might prefer).

honestly i haven't heard much about pethidine as everyone i know tended to use the 'gas' nitrious oxide. i don't really know with is 'better'.

I'm surprised your hospital has this as their most common option... the few people I know who've tried it haven't found it very helpful... Most people I know start with the gas and this works well for lots of them, but if it doesn't work enough they'll go for an epi. I personally went straight for the epi as my BP was very high and the epi is the best thing to keep it down (plus I wasn't enjoying the pain AT ALL and the epi was fantastic - didn't feel a thing for the next few hours till it was time to push!!)

I found that Peth caused me to zone out between contractions, but didn't seem to ease the intensity of the contractions themselves.

Kerrie

Usually hospitals will offer you gas, narcotic (i.e.pethedine, morphine etc) and epidural anaesthetic, normally in that order unless you specifically request otherwise.

I don't know how much research has gone into any of them, and what effects they have, but pethedine in particaular (and prob all nercotic drugs I'm guessing) can make the baby dopey, and more likely to require rescuss. etc.

Plus, they might not work for you, or they might be fantastic, you don't know before hand unfortunately :(

I had peth and it made no difference.I have read that gas doesn't cross the placenta where Peth does, sometimes the bubs are born alittle more sleepy.
Bec

The pethadine did nothing for me in both my labours, took the edge of about 3 contractions but that was it. I wouldn't be going for it for a 3rd time knowing the outcome twice if I was to fall pregnant again.

Love

Pethadine didn't make an ounce of difference for me either. I found the gas sooo much better, and i didn't need an epidural.

Peth didn't work for me either.The gas was the way to go!All peth did was make Gemma really sleepy for the first couple of days!

I had a shot of Peth when I wanted to start pushing before I was fully dilated...like Kerrie, it made me zone out between contractions, almost like I was asleep, but didn't really reduce the pain of them. I had no side effects though, and Kaleb was wide awake and ready to feed straight away.

I had Peth with my 1st labour. I wasn't keen on the gas, it dried my mouth out and I got too frustrated with it, so the midwife suggested Pethidiene. She said it doesn't necessarily take the pain away but will make you feel like you've had a couple of scotches. Well I would of been better downing a few shots of scotch as I felt nothing, however DH said he could notice a difference.

With DS I asked, actually no I screamed for pain relief at 8cm, mid wife said no as I was too close to pushing.

I have heard that they will not give you peth closer to stage 2 as it can affect babies breathing.

I don't think I'd bother with it next time round.

Hi, I would have to agree with most of you. The peth did nothing for me pain wise, however it did make me go to sleep in between contractions, even if it was for only 30secs to 1min. The midwives were quite reluctant to give me anything, they put me in the bath first and then the peth. I finally got the gas I was wanting while I was waiting for the epi.
Some hospitals will ask you what kind of birth you want, I stated as natural as poss and I guess that is why the midwives tryed their best to get me through without any. Just ask them as many questions as poss before birth. Everything works differently for everyone.
Lets just put it this way my epi only helped with the tear I still felt all the contractions and had the gas for that, which really helped. Yet for others it takes away all the pain.

All the best

Love

I decided that I didn't want peth because it is a narcotic and crosses to the placenta and we didn't want the baby to have to have narcan to reverse it. I had gas though and ended up with an emergency caesar and epidural. From past surgeries, I have had it and tripped out.

thanks for everyone's replies. it seems to be the general consensus that it doesn't do much more then make you drowsy, i might look at my other options a bit closer.

just to make it clear - my hospital does use the gas and other methods (although they prefer not to use epidurals), but pethidine is statistically the most commonly used pain releif option here.

Shannon,
Narcan reverses the effects of the pethadine in the newborn, it is often used in overdoses.

:

---

Side effects
Pethidine has a sedative effect and makes women drowsy and their breathing shallow. Many women feel very sick, so it is given with another drug to prevent sickness. Some women become very weepy after they have had pethidine.

Pethidine given during labour crosses the placenta with the result that some babies are slow to start breathing after they are born. Every delivery room carries a supply of a drug(narcan) that can reverse the effects of pethidine and this can be quickly injected into the baby if he is drowsy. However, the pethidine will linger in the baby’s system for up to a week and may make the baby unresponsive and difficult to feed in the early days of his life.

Bec

---

Thanks Bec, that is the reason we didn't have any pethidine.

Gemma - You didn't have any peth with your c-section? I didn't have any pethidine during labour, but once they said they had to take me in for a c-section they gave me a shot straight away! Don't think they even asked me!
For me, it worked well I suppose. Helped with the pain from the c-section, but I have been told the dosage you get for a c-section is practically double what they give you for pain relief during labour. Don't know how true that one is though??

I would believe that it can stay in the baby's system for up to a week. I was given my shot, taken up to theatre, epidural done, betadine stuff put on my tummy that i could feel, given a few more minutes to make sure that I was numb... got ready to make the incision, could feel something running down my leg, so then given a GA. Plenty of time for it to pass over to DD. She was rather groggy for the first couple of days, but her Apgar was 9, then 10?? So who knows?? Even I'm confused now!
:D
Nic

Nic

Misty
I usually offer 'the gas' first as it has less harmful effects on the baby.
Pethidine is a narcotic and will depress the breathing of the baby if it is born soon after you have the injection.
A lot of women find that pethidine does not help with the pain but can help them to sleep between contractions. However there are somw women that find pethidine very effective.
If yo have 'the gas' this is also passed onto the baby but it effects are very short lived. It only works when you are breathing it in and for about 1 minute after you have stopped breathing it in.

Alan (Midwife)

Wow I'm amazed at how many others felt Peth didn't really do much for them. I had it with my first daughter (after gas didn't do anything for me) and it didn't do anything except made me feel drugged out and I felt I didn't cope as well with the contractions as it really affected my concentration and made me drowsy. With my 2nd daughter I didn't have it at all and went straight for an epidural as my labour was another long one. Obviously if this labour starts to progress slowly I will again go straight for an Epi.

I had a shot of pethadine with Nicholas, while I was still having the gas but found it didn't do a thing except making me drousy too. Next time I think i will just stick to the gas. :)

Nic, I had something else for the c-sect pain and it was morphine based so probably not much different to peth when I think about it. Amy had an apgar of 9 then 10 and was very alert from the minute she was born so it didn't seem to affect her.

I found with the peth, that basically, it just helped me recover from one contraction before the other hit, as I was more relaxed, I think the gas is just a distraction, well thats how it felt for me, and not much use when the cintractions hit pretty quick, coz you need to get a few sucks in before the contractions peak, I had no time for that.