Fentanyl for Labor?

[Anonymous]

My epidurals for sure had fentanyl in them. I also got fentanyl in a bolus when my epidurals stopped working.

How could it effect the baby? No one discussed that with me.

[Anonymous]

I had it and hated it. I felt high, in a bad way, just really loopy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got Fentanyl after an exhausting night of labor; it was amazing! I instantly felt calm and okay. Unfortunately, the nurse administered before she did a cervical check and found out I was 10 cm dilated. My OB was mad about it. They to bring in a team of “drug” nurses (?) that specifically treat babies in these circumstances. But my DS started crying as soon as came out and the nurses laughed and said “okay guess we’re not needed here” and left without looking at him. I have no idea why or what happened. Baby was fine, though.

And you never thought to ask?!

Probably she was overjoyed at meeting her baby, and exhausted, and then she was moved up to the recovery floor, and then by the time she thought to ask, it was several sets of doctors and nurses later and she dropped it because everything was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got Fentanyl after an exhausting night of labor; it was amazing! I instantly felt calm and okay. Unfortunately, the nurse administered before she did a cervical check and found out I was 10 cm dilated. My OB was mad about it. They to bring in a team of “drug” nurses (?) that specifically treat babies in these circumstances. But my DS started crying as soon as came out and the nurses laughed and said “okay guess we’re not needed here” and left without looking at him. I have no idea why or what happened. Baby was fine, though.

And you never thought to ask?!

Probably she was overjoyed at meeting her baby, and exhausted, and then she was moved up to the recovery floor, and then by the time she thought to ask, it was several sets of doctors and nurses later and she dropped it because everything was fine.

Yeah, it was basically this. My OB was already scolding the nurse who gave me Fentanyl so close to delivery, and when all the drug nurses left in great spirits I guess I figured the baby is fine (his APGAR was perfect). Honestly I hadn’t thought of it since this post.

[Anonymous]

*until this post. Geez apparently I’m still on Fentanyl!

[Anonymous]

I had fentanyl for both my epidurals 7 years apart. It’s the standard drug.

[Anonymous]

I had it as an injection to help with massive pain, pre-epidural. Helped with the pain, but didn't make me feel high. It actually made me woozy, and I puked. Still glad I got it - I was HURTING!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:*until this post. Geez apparently I’m still on Fentanyl!

You should have marched in there demanding answers on your healthy baby and healthy mother!

[Anonymous]

Fentanyl was invented as a strong opioid specifically for the horrific, ungodly pain of cancer, specifically bone cancer.

It gets a bad name because drug lords are not pharmacists or doctors and don’t get the dosage or chemical makeup correct, and kill people.

Fentanyl is a wonderful drug that has helped many, many, people and is standard in the epidural mix most anesthesiologists choose now .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got Fentanyl after an exhausting night of labor; it was amazing! I instantly felt calm and okay. Unfortunately, the nurse administered before she did a cervical check and found out I was 10 cm dilated. My OB was mad about it. They to bring in a team of “drug” nurses (?) that specifically treat babies in these circumstances. But my DS started crying as soon as came out and the nurses laughed and said “okay guess we’re not needed here” and left without looking at him. I have no idea why or what happened. Baby was fine, though.

And you never thought to ask?!

There's not much more to ask than PP related. The nurse effed up. She isn't supposed to give fentanyl or other opiate close to delivery because it can cause respiratory depression in the newborn. It's not an issue earlier because the mother is breathing for the fetus. The nurse should have checked dilation to see how far away delivery was before giving an opiate. They brought down some NICU nurses to help do CPR on the baby (and probably a respiratory therapist) if the baby was not breathing well when it was born. The baby was crying, though, which means the baby got enough air and was breathing on its own. There's nothing else to know.

Nurses screw up sometimes. They're human. We expect nurses to do their job perfectly every time, and that's not possible. I'm sure the nurse had her own manager to deal with after than eff up, as well as getting her ass chewed out by the doctor. She won't ever do that again.

I'm glad that everything turned out okay.

[Anonymous]

I had a c section and they offered it in the recovery room (I declined). It was planned due to a breech baby, but during my childbirth class they told us we could choose it during labor. It would only be given twice and we could expect it to last about an hour each time - apparently that is because it gets less effective with each use. I think a lot of women get it while waiting for an epidural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had fentanyl for both my epidurals 7 years apart. It’s the standard drug.

When it's used in the epidural it works directly on the spinal cord, so it usually doesn't get into the bloodstream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got Fentanyl after an exhausting night of labor; it was amazing! I instantly felt calm and okay. Unfortunately, the nurse administered before she did a cervical check and found out I was 10 cm dilated. My OB was mad about it. They to bring in a team of “drug” nurses (?) that specifically treat babies in these circumstances. But my DS started crying as soon as came out and the nurses laughed and said “okay guess we’re not needed here” and left without looking at him. I have no idea why or what happened. Baby was fine, though.

And you never thought to ask?!

There's not much more to ask than PP related. The nurse effed up. She isn't supposed to give fentanyl or other opiate close to delivery because it can cause respiratory depression in the newborn. It's not an issue earlier because the mother is breathing for the fetus. The nurse should have checked dilation to see how far away delivery was before giving an opiate. They brought down some NICU nurses to help do CPR on the baby (and probably a respiratory therapist) if the baby was not breathing well when it was born. The baby was crying, though, which means the baby got enough air and was breathing on its own. There's nothing else to know.

Nurses screw up sometimes. They're human. We expect nurses to do their job perfectly every time, and that's not possible. I'm sure the nurse had her own manager to deal with after than eff up, as well as getting her ass chewed out by the doctor. She won't ever do that again.

I'm glad that everything turned out okay.

Hey thanks for explaining that! It makes more sense why they left as soon as the baby cried.

[Anonymous]

I have bad reactions to opioids and discussed pain relief options beforehand. I seriously doubt it was in my epidural because I was completely functional and any opioid makes me super high and dizzy.

[Anonymous]

When I delivered at Sibley, my epidural dose was so high (anesthesiologist mistake) that my upper chest went completely numb and I was paralyzed from the neck down. If my organs in my chest cavity became paralyzed, I could have died, I believe.

The nurse had an emergency protocol to get my blood to circulate and get the epidural dose to wear off.

Scariest moment of my life.