My husband and I attended the virtual tour at my hospital last week, and they mentioned sub-cutaneous sterile water injections as a method of pain relief. They're said to work almost instantaneously, and to significantly reduce your pain level. Has anyone tried it?
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They worked for me up to a point (as did the TENS machine - actually I think I got more elief from that than from the water injections), but once hard labour started they did nothing. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear
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How do they work? Do you get them just during a contraction? Does the relief last for more than one contraction?
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By the time my midwife mentioned it, she said "We COULD try this...or you could just push this baby out." I chose the latter! Haha.
But, really, I've heard good things. My midwife and doula both recommend trying it if you want some relief during natural childbirth. For me, things just moved a little too fast!
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I tried them. They sting like CRAZY (but not like labour pain haha). Unfortunately, all of my pain was in my back, and they really didn't help me at all. I think if I'd tried it earlier, it might have helped, but I was at a 9 and had been in labour for about 42 hours.
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@Jedeve: What I've read up on is that they are most effective for back labour, and work by creating a stinging sensation locally, so that your brain shuts off or ignores those pain receptors. Some accounts online stated that pain went from a 8 to a 2. Since I hadn't heard of it before, I was wondering if this matched the hive's collective experience? Seems like no so far! Thanks for weighing in @Mrs. Oatmeal: and @ScarletBegonia.
Perhaps I should clarify, I'm not really looking for a medication-free birth, since I am open to an epidural towards the end. But I am looking for other forms of pain relief for the earlier stages of active labour. I'm not sure if it's appropriate for what I'm thinking of.
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@Astro Bee: Hm, thats interesting, once my contractions moved to my back (at 6ish cms) is when the TENS and the SubQ injections totally stopped working. Up til then they did provide a distraction from the stomach/hip contractions.
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6 comments