hey there if a birth is in your future you might be thinking about an epidural and
if you're thinking about an epidural I'm guessing that you might have been thinking about the
benefits versus the risks this is something that as a doula I always like to help my clients think
through benefits versus risks and what makes sense for them and their own labor so this is not the
first time i started this video this is actually a couple times in and i realized that it's a lot of
data to try to put together and so this time we're going to use my handy notebook and we're going to
lay out benefits first risks let's do it so before i dive into the real details i just want to say
that this is not meant to sell you on getting an epidural or dissuade you from getting an epidural
i actually think an epidural is a wonderful tool to have in our toolbox that's something that some
people choose to use the tool or they need to use the tool and some people avoid it all together
so there's no one right choice this information hopefully will help you make the decision that's
right for you and your labor let's start off with the benefits really if you ask anyone
ask the care providers out there midwives doctors even people who have had epidurals
there will be a lot of agreement that best pharmacologic way to decrease or eliminate pain in
most cases number two they have no effect on your brain which means that you are still
clear-headed after you have an epidural this is a benefit real big benefit for a lot of people
who don't like that fuzzy headed feeling that maybe an iv narcotic or nitrous oxide might give
that the epidural does not have any effect on that mental clarity number three is one of my
favorite benefits of an epidural and that means that it can allow for rest
so by eliminating pain in most cases you have the ability to rest and rest sometimes can be the main
thing that's needed in labor and can be very hard with any other type of pain relief
but rest is so important when you get an epidural and the fourth one is that most experts agree
that an epidural is very safe for the baby so most experts say that the epidural
medication does not cross the placenta and usually does not have an effect on the baby so four
big benefits of the epidural now we gotta jump right into risks and let's start with itchiness
so people that have epidurals sometimes experience itchiness there is definitely limited mobility
of course because you are feeling them now this isn't necessarily a risk for if labor
is going well but can be a risk for the ability to move around the way the body needs in labor
this next one you might have hot spots or breakthrough points so there might be areas
that just don't have proper coverage you might be feeling the contractions at one area
also you have an increased need for a urinary catheter and then having the urinary catheter
can increase a risk of a uti a urinary tract infection
getting an epidural has a risk of slowing down your labor and that may lead to the need for
artificial rupture of your membranes breaking your water and it might lead to a need for pitocin
again you're hearing me say the word may you're hearing me say the word might so these aren't
all necessities these are things that increases a risk for these that an epidural increases the risk
for these possibilities next one is a decrease in maternal blood pressure so if there is a
decrease in maternal blood pressure it may lead to nausea the need for additional fluids
the need for medication to speed up your heart rate to increase that blood pressure
it might lead to a decrease in oxygenation for the baby and if this is severe enough that can't be
resolved it might lead to a need for a cesarean birth the next one a longer pushing stage which
if that happens it may lead to the need for vacuum or forceps and assisted delivery
and that may lead to an increased risk for perineal tears
then there is also a risk of a maternal fever and with maternal fever that may lead to a need
for antibiotics now finally there are a few that are rare but i wanted to go ahead and mention and
that is anytime there is a puncture of the skin there's a there's a risk of infection at the site
there's also a risk of a spinal headache if the catheter was placed in the incorrect space
and there is a risk of local nerve damage to the area where the epidural was placed
again these are three rare risks so we've got our benefits we have our risks clearly they're they
look different right our benefits are fewer and our risks are more but as you guys noticed that
the risks are maybes they're not definite and the benefits are pretty pretty definite um i would say
with the first as the best form of pain relief is the one that could be a little bit of a maybe
not always do you have great pain relief but um the benefits are pretty most people experience a
lot of these benefits whereas the risks i would say they are um kind of experienced differently
for different people so what do you think did it spell it out all together i hope that seeing
this visual is a way to help you process the information and make the right choice for you
now i have a great video about how to have the best epidural possible that's some really good
tips right here i suggest going there and checking that out and if you haven't subscribed make sure
to hit that button so you can find out when the next video is posted see you guys next time bye