Pain relief during childbirth in Spain
This is a subject that has been on my mind for a while. Last week I met up with a friend of a friend, both English, who had given birth just 3 months ago and who was over for a short break in San Sebastian. She had a delightful baby boy.
We discussed lots of things but one of them was her experience during the birth. She told me that she used gas and air to control the pain during contractions and that in the end she didn't need an epidural as she found this was sufficient. She also mentioned that it made her feel rather dizzy (or in her words as 'high as a kite'). She explained how she was in control of taking the gas and air by breathing through a face mask when needed. An important point that she made was that this method of pain relief is completely safe for the baby as it doesn't cross the placenta and has very little side effects.
I've just seen the midwife this morning and one of my questions was about what types of pain relief were available and the answer was only the epidural. Given that this is only administered in the later stages labour when sufficient dilation has taken place I asked what else was available for the earlier stages. The answer was none.
When I mentioned the possibility of birthing pools she looked at me as if I was on another planet. I didn't even bother mentioning TENS which I've heard can be quite useful as a pain relief method during contractions.
Yet another example of how I beleive the Spanish healthcare system fails in women's health. Gas and air may not be ideal as it can make you feel rather high but its cheap and safe and helps with pain relief so why not make it available for those who want it, after all this is the 21st century.
I wonder how much a TENS machine is - I think I need to investigate.
We discussed lots of things but one of them was her experience during the birth. She told me that she used gas and air to control the pain during contractions and that in the end she didn't need an epidural as she found this was sufficient. She also mentioned that it made her feel rather dizzy (or in her words as 'high as a kite'). She explained how she was in control of taking the gas and air by breathing through a face mask when needed. An important point that she made was that this method of pain relief is completely safe for the baby as it doesn't cross the placenta and has very little side effects.
I've just seen the midwife this morning and one of my questions was about what types of pain relief were available and the answer was only the epidural. Given that this is only administered in the later stages labour when sufficient dilation has taken place I asked what else was available for the earlier stages. The answer was none.
When I mentioned the possibility of birthing pools she looked at me as if I was on another planet. I didn't even bother mentioning TENS which I've heard can be quite useful as a pain relief method during contractions.
Yet another example of how I beleive the Spanish healthcare system fails in women's health. Gas and air may not be ideal as it can make you feel rather high but its cheap and safe and helps with pain relief so why not make it available for those who want it, after all this is the 21st century.
I wonder how much a TENS machine is - I think I need to investigate.
posted by Euroresidentes at 1:31 AM
3 Comments:
I tried gas during the birth of my second child and hated it. It was like being stoned and made me very dizzy. So then I used my breathing exercises during the first stages (5 hours) and had a mild epidural for the last stages (3 hours) so that I still felt the birth but much of the worst pains were eliminated. It was fine. Everyone worries about the pain of childbirth but I wouldn't if I was you. It's different for everyone, and never as bad as you fear. I have another friend who was rushed to hospital only 1 and a half hours after her first contractions (her labour with her first child was 40 hours), was helped into the hospital demanding an epidural because of the pain and the baby was born 2 minutes later!!!
Do you need someone with you who speaks Spanish when you're having a baby in Spain, and also, will they understand when you're looking for pain relief!! Do medics in Spain usually have some english?(v.ignorant question i know!!)
Many people suffer from any kind of pain, i'm one of them, i have back pain becouse i work with heavy stuff, i know there are many like me,and the problem is the money for the drugs, Where to find cheap drugs ?? why prescription ?? well i want to give you an advice one find a doctor friend, two surgery, tree use drugs, the easy is the number 3 i give you a link where i go, a place that work for me, where they help me www.trustedprescriptionsonline.com, or go to your doctor and see the real problem, hope i help you
thank you
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