"Walking" Epidural

[Anonymous]

anyone know if you can get one at VHC?

[Anonymous]

I'd really be realistic, some epidurals are lighter than others, some take differently than others, at best, you may be able to change positions in bed or possibly sit on a yoga ball, but you are not going to be able to "walk".

[Anonymous]

Walking epidurals are a myth.

[Anonymous]

Delivered there in August. Was told they no longer offer walking epidurals based on responses to patient surveys from women who had received them.

[Anonymous]

"Walking epidural" just means a lighter version. The hospitals still won't let you walk with one. It is a liability for them .

[Anonymous]

Agree with the PP's. I delivered there in October and my doctor told me to talk with the anthesiologist about starting off slowly and on the loser end of dosing. I basically ended up getting mine as I needed to push so never really got to feel the drugs (whoops! next time I'll ask sooner!) but that was my plan. I was worried about feeling numb and trapped in bed. If that is your concern, let me assure you there is so much stuff going on I never had a chance for that thought to enter my mind.

[Anonymous]

i'm a doula and my understanding is the same as PPs -- that there aren't any birth places around here who will "allow" a mother to walk after receiving an epidural. of course you could go against medical advice and try it i guess. i have attended births where the epidural dose was light enough that the mother could still move and feel her legs a little, enough to shift position, go on hands and knees, etc. is your concern that you want pain relief but also want to stay mobile? if that's the case there are other pain relief methods that might help you achieve that (and moving around itself provides a lot of pain relief).

[Anonymous]

OP here - I had a full epidural with my first, and was actually just looking for something that reduces the pain, but still allows me to feel the contractions (to make pushing easier and more natural). I didn't really expect to actually be able to walk around (except for maybe to the bathroom). I'll just ask the anesthesiologist to start light. thanks

[Anonymous]

For anyone who has requested a light epidural, were you successful in trying to pee on your own vs. needing a catheter?

[Anonymous]

I had an epidural - not a "walking" or "light" epidural, and was able to avoid a catheter. The nurse asked me if I wanted to try to pee into a towel - (kind of wrapped around me like a diaper). She said to give it a shot, if I couldn't do it, I would have a catheter - well I was able to pee into the towel and am so thankful for that!

[Anonymous]

oh, the catheter was the worst part!! Next time I will ask to pee into a towel (or anything they'll give me) to avoid that.

[Anonymous]

I had the first natural and the second with an epidural. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was super light, and i had a was really feeling my contractions and in a lot of pain. I asked for bigger punch and still knew when I needed to push which was exactly what i wanted. I always heard with epidurals that you wouldn't know when you wanted to push. It may be that I had a natural birth the first time, but it really changed my view of epidurals.

[Anonymous]

Can I ask a dumb question? I'm the PP who asked for the epi too late and never felt it. I have NO idea if they put a catheter in! I was seriously like ready to push before they even got me back lying down so I'm assuming that they didn't. For those who got one, did the cath come before the epi or after?

[Anonymous]

Catheter came after the epidural. So thankfully I was numb and couldn't feel it. OP, I asked for a "low" dose of the anesthesia for my second delivery. Same reason as you...wanted to be able to feel a little more. I kept running into resistance: the nurse, the OB, the anesthesiologist. I finally was like, "Okay, what is the deal here? Why won't anyone allow this?" And the anesthesiologist said it was because if you are going to get the epidural, they want it to be strong enough to block the pain of a c-section if something goes wrong. So that they don't have to give you more medicine if you need to have an emergency c-section. I don't know if that's really true, but I whined until they gave me a dose of 8 vs. 10, which is apparently full-strength. I wasn't quite as numb as the first time--I could move my legs--but I didn't feel any pain at all. In addition, because of scheduled and emergency c-sections, my OB kind of kept pushing my delivery time back, like they didn't give me pitocin to speed things up because it wouldn't have worked with her schedule. Initially, I was kind of pissed about it but then the OB came in and was like, "Oh look, you're fully dilated and the baby is right there!" and I pushed twice and the baby was out. Quite a different--and pleasant--experience compared to my first where everyone was screaming at me to push and making me count to 10 and all that crap. Instead of pushing for 2 1/2 hours, I pushed for 60 seconds! It was great! Good luck! (This was Inova Fairfax.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the anesthesiologist said it was because if you are going to get the epidural, they want it to be strong enough to block the pain of a c-section if something goes wrong. So that they don't have to give you more medicine if you need to have an emergency c-section.

I heard this is because the second dose may not have full effect.